You Know My Name
by PrincessClown1995
Summary: When returning home from work one day, Arthur Fleck comes across a young woman named Wendy. This story follows the movie pretty close, but with a few surprise twists and turns thrown in there. Special appearance by Travis Bickle. Rated R for bloody and disturbing violence, language, smoking, and mild sexual content. MAJOR SPOILERS!
1. Chapter 1

Sitting in front of a mirror in the changing room, Arthur Fleck could not bring a smile to his face. His job as a clown was not easy, and with his mental illness taking over him, it was only getting harder everyday. No matter how many times he donned the clown makeup and funny costume, he always seemed to put on the theatrical facade of a grin to make people happy. Ever since he was a small boy, his mother told him he had a purpose: to bring laughter and joy into people's lives. As he sat there mopping at his own miserable self, the depressed Arthur pulled back the corners of his mouth with his fingers and managed to form something of a decent smile on his face. It was only when the tear leaked out of the bottom of his eye that he decided to give up. He released the forced smile and folded his arms on the vanity and buried his head into them, sighing deeply. But he did not have much time to mope. It was almost time to start the day. He had a job to do, and the only way he could get through it was to put on a happy face.

Once the day was done, Arthur went back to his workplace and took off his clown outfit and removed his makeup and changed back into his regular clothes. Throwing his jacket on, he turned his attention to a small man in clown makeup and a blue wig standing next to him.

"See you later, Gary", said Arthur.

The small man, named Gary, took off his clown wig and turned to his coworker and said, "Good night, Arthur. Say hello to your mother for me." He spoke with a British accent.

With everything said and done, Arthur walked out of the locker room and existed his workplace for the day. The moment he stepped outside, Arthur pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and got one out and lit it. He had been waiting the last half hour for a smoke and he needed something to help calm his jittery nerves. Today had not been one of his worst days, but there had been an unfortunate incident that caused him to have a laughing fit while entertaining a group of children at a little girl's birthday party. He waited at the bus stop for about ten minutes before the next bus arrived. He took the ride back home and got off some five blocks away from his apartment.

Arthur walked down the street as the sky began to darken. The sound of sirens and people shouting fell deaf on his ears. By now, he was used to it. It was Gotham City, after all. The rich thrived and prospered, and the poor were suffering and struggling constantly from one day to the next. The air was foul and the vicious stench of excrement was evident. There were multiple bags of garbage and filth on the sidewalks. It was impossible to think how anyone could live in a place like that. The Dark Ages were not as bad. The citizens were no different. Everyday, people walked by each other in the streets, shouting and fighting. Never stopping to say hello or even acknowledge those around them, let alone bothering to show a little kindness to a stranger. In Gotham, it was every man for himself.

He came at last to his final task of the day: walking up the towering stairs to his apartment. He always hated this part. Everyday, Arthur would walk up those same steps and feel as though the weight of the world were baring down on his shoulders. It was much more easier walking down them, though he didn't know why. Reaching the topmost step and having accomplished his journey, Arthur walked down another block until he came to the building that was his home.

Just as he stepped into the building, Arthur went over and checked the mailbox with the name P. Fleck on it. There was nothing in it. He should have known. He didn't know why he checked it everyday, but his mother had high hope of receiving a letter from famous billionaire, Thomas Wayne. Thirty years ago, she worked for him, and any day now, she was expecting to hear from him. Arthur didn't understand why it was so important to her, but because of his love for his mother, he made the effort of checking the mail to be his last thing to do on his daily routine before retiring to his apartment.

Arthur walked over to the elevator and stepped inside. He pushed the button to go up and the doors started to close, but then stopped about halfway. Arthur tilted his head back, staring up at the ceiling. This wasn't surprising to him. Nothing in the apartment complex ever worked properly anymore. Still, it was his home. The elevator door soon closed all the way and took him up to the floor he needed to go. With a ding, the elevator door opened. Arthur stepped out and went down to the door where his apartment was and got the keys out from his pocket. He was just about to stick them into the keyhole, but then he heard a voice cry out.

"_No! No!_" It was the desperate sound of a woman.

Arthur looked to his right and heard a man yelling and arguing with the woman next door. He heard things being thrown against the wall. The man was spewing obscene language at the woman, who only tried to calm him down and talk sensibly, but the man wasn't hearing any of it. He sounded drunk.

Before Arthur could try putting the key into the lock again, the apartment door next to his opened and a young woman in a white dress with red polka dots spilled put into the hallway. She fell hard and landed face first onto the wooden floor. Her hair concealed her face in a curly display of auburn red hair.

A blonde man in his twenties poked his head out and shouted, "You don't break up with me, I break up with you, you stupid bitch! Fucking cunt!" The asshole slammed the door and locked her out.

Arthur looked away and placed his hand on the door. He thought about ignoring it at first, seeing how it was none of his business, but something told him that night he had to make sure the young woman was all right. He looked at her again and stuck the keys back into his pocket and ran down to the young woman, who stood up on her hands and knees. He bent down on one knee and placed his hands on her shoulders. A gagging sound came out of her mouth.

"Hey, are you okay?" Arthur asked her, a bit of concern in his voice.

The young woman could not answer him right away. The next thing she knew, she had thrown up the remains of her stomach onto the dirty wooden floor. Arthur pulled her hair back so she wouldn't vomit on herself. The young woman choked and started coughing. Pretty soon, she started crying. She cried not only from embarrassment, but from the shame of what went on just now between her and the man who threw her out of the apartment. Her body trembled.

Arthur released her hair and pulled out a Kleenex from the pocket of his jacket and used it to wipe away the sour-tasting residue on her lips, using comforting words to help ease her troubled mind.

"Don't worry", said Arthur. "You're all right."

The young woman continued crying, accompanied by a short series of gasping noises. She felt a hand stroke her hair.

"Shh, it's okay, it's okay", Arthur whispered to her soothingly, rubbing her back. "Here, let me help you." Arthur gave her his hand and helped her to stand on her feet and walked her over to his apartment. He fished the keys out from his pocket again and tried for a third time to unlock the door. He opened the door and brought her inside and was careful to be quiet. He didn't want to disturb his mother and let her know that he had brought a stranger into the apartment.

Arthur brought the young woman over to the couch and helped her to lie down. He grabbed a thin blanket from off the nearby armchair and unfolded it and used it to cover her up.

The auburn-haired beauty opened her brown eyes and looked at him and tried speaking, "W...where?..."

"It's okay", said Arthur, cupping a hand to her cheek. "You're safe now. You're safe." He stroked her hair again and stood up and left her alone for a moment. He returned a minute later, carrying a glass of water in one hand. Arthur helped her to take a sip of water and set the glass down on the coffee table afterwards. He took hold of her hand and asked her, "You want to tell me your name?"

The young woman blinked at him, clearly on the verge of tiredness. "My name? My name is..." The young woman's eyes closed and her voice faded before she could answer him. Her head rolled over to one side.

Arthur leaned over the unconscious young woman, listening for her breathing. He looked at her again and felt relieved once he saw her chest move up and down slowly.

"Happy, is that you?" Arthur's mother called out from the bedroom. He looked in that same direction.

"Yeah, Mom", he answered.

"Did you check the mail?"

Arthur looked at the young woman again, watching her delicate porcelain face etched with an expression of sadness and exhaustion.

"Happy?" Arthur's mother called out again.

"Yeah, Mom. Nothing came."

With that said, Arthur stood up and walked over to the kitchen. He paused at the entrance and looked back at the young woman once more. He hoped he had done the right thing bringing her into his home. He went about fixing his mother her dinner and brought it to her into her bedroom on a serving tray. Arthur and his mother made small talk while he cut her food into small pieces and she commented on how skinny he looked. He talked to her about his day, but he did not mention anything to her about the young woman sleeping out in the living room. He turned off the lamp and sat down next to her in bed and they both watched TV together. The most popular show in Gotham City was on tonight. Arthur enjoyed the program, but every so often, his mind kept thinking about the mysterious red-headed female.

Afterwards, Arthur's mother fell asleep. He turned off the TV and kissed his mother on her forehead. He walked out and closed the door and went out to the living room and checked on the young woman. She was sleeping peacefully.

Arthur sat down at the table and lit a cigarette, taking long drags in between sentences, writing today's thoughts in his journal. His entry was sloppy and vague, but then again, so was a joke he thought about.


	2. Chapter 2

The young woman woke up the following morning, sunlight beaming down on her face. She stirred and moaned and rubbed her forehead and sat up slowly. She looked down and found a blanket was covering her. When she looked up again, the young woman nearly gasped at the sight of a man sitting in a chair in the corner. His head was leaned over to one side and he looked to be asleep. The young woman didn't remember much about last night, let alone the strange man sleeping in the chair. She slipped out of the blanket and started to head toward the door, but then stopped herself and looked back at him. He was sleeping peacefully, like an angel almost, but with a certain tragedy to his pale, gaunt face. He didn't look dangerous, though she could never be too careful. The young woman looked down at herself, making sure he had not violated her in any way. She didn't think so. She looked at the sleeping man again and carefully thought over the situation. He had obviously brought her into the safety of his home because she needed help. If she left now, he might have thought that she was ungrateful. Wanting to return her gratitude and thank him properly, the young woman quietly moved away from the door and went back over and sat down on the couch and waited for him to wake up. She didn't have to wait long.

Arthur woke up a minute later and sat up straight and rubbed his forehead and brushed back his hair with his hand. He looked over at the couch and found the young woman was awake.

"Are you all right?" He asked her.

"Yes, I'm all right", said the young woman.

"What's your name?"

"Wendy", she replied.

"That's a pretty name."

"Thank you", said Wendy. "What's your name?"

"My name is Arthur. Arthur Fleck."

Wendy looked around the place, seeing that it was an apartment, no doubt his own. She had lived in one identical to this, only not quite so homely. It all came flooding back to her: the fighting, the argument, her being thrown out of the apartment next door. More importantly, she remembered a voice. A soft, masculine voice asking her if she was all right. The kindness of a stranger. She looked at Arthur again.

"Did I spend the night here?" Wendy asked him.

"Well, I couldn't just leave you out there, especially after the way that man treated you", Arthur answered her.

"How much did you hear last night?" Wendy asked nervously.

"I heard enough", said Arthur.

Wendy lowered her eyes, biting her bottom lip in embarrassment.

Arthur noticed her discomfort and asked her, "Did you know him, the man you were with last night?"

"I'm sorry to say that I did", said Wendy. She blinked and looked at Arthur. "His name is Mark. He's my boyfriend, though ex-boyfriend is more like it."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at her, a curious expression on his face mixed with mild surprise. "Oh?" He asked her.

Wendy focused her attention on a pen that was lying on the coffee table in front of her and fidgeted around with it, avoiding his gaze for a reason.

"How did you meet him?" Arthur questioned, hoping he wasn't prying too far into her private life.

"Through bad luck, I guess", Wendy answered.

"Do you have a family?"

Wendy leaned back on the couch, still not looking at Arthur. "Not really", she said. "I'm suppose to have an Uncle Jack somewhere in this city, but I haven't been able to find him. I came here about a week ago to look for him, and Mark came here with me to...have a good time, for lack of a better word. We rented an apartment together and I've been trying to look for work, but it's been difficult. Mark hasn't even made an effort to help out." Wendy paused momentarily, shaking her head. "I don't want to be there anymore", she said. "After what happened last night, I..." Her bottom lip trembling, Wendy sniffled and wiped away a tear that was about to fall down her face.

"Wendy", said Arthur. "If you don't want to talk about it-"

"No, I do." Wendy looked at him. "You have to understand, but what I did last night is not something I normally do. I only did it to defend myself."

"What happened?"

"I came home after a job interview and found Mark in bed, drunk. I went over and sat down with him to try and relax, and he started coming onto me. I told him I wasn't in the mood and he got mad at me. I started arguing with him and the next thing I knew, he grabbed me and started forcing me down on the bed. He tried reaching under my dress, so I scratched his face. He hit me in my shoulder trying to go for my face, but he missed. At that point, I kneed him in the groin and told Mark I was through with him. He came at me again and I tried to run out of there, but he started cursing and throwing stuff, threatening to kill me. He told me he was going to kill me, and he...he...I'm sorry."

Wendy stood up and walked over to stand next to the door, hiding her crying face from him. She hugged her arms across her chest and let out a sob, her body trembling from her emotional outburst.

Arthur rose up from the chair and walked over and tried putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, but this only made her cry harder. "Wendy?"

"Don't touch me", Wendy whispered, her voice breaking.

Arthur pulled his hand away and looked toward his mother's bedroom, hoping she wouldn't wake up. He looked at Wendy again and stepped closer to her. She kept her back to him, quietly sobbing.

"Wendy, listen to me", Arthur begged her, his voice gentle and soft. "I'm sorry you got hurt. And I know you're angry and upset, but you can't let him make you unhappy like this. You didn't deserve to be treated like that. No woman should ever have to go through that."

Sniffling in response, Wendy shook her head and told him, "It doesn't matter, Arthur. It's over now."

"I wish there was something I could do."

Wendy turned around and looked at him with watery eyes, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face into his shirt.

Arthur was unsure how to handle it at first, but then he slowly wrapped his arms around Wendy and allowed her to melt into the warmth of his embrace, seeing how much she needed it. Until then, he had never been this close to a woman before. It was strangely new to him. He rubbed small circles on her back, feeling her breath hitch in her throat as she tried to get her crying under control. His other hand rested on the back of her head, his fingers curling themselves into her mass of red tresses.

Wendy continued crying, though they were mostly muffled by the cotton fabric she was feeling against her tear-stained face. She felt Arthur rocking her gently, and then, for some reason, heard him starting to sing softly.

"_Smile, though your heart is aching. Smile, even though it's breaking...When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by...If you smile, through your fear and sorrow. Smile, and maybe tomorrow...That's the time you must keep on trying...Smile, what's the use of crying? You'll find that life is still worthwhile...If you just smile._"

Wendy listened to him singing to her, trying to cheer her up and easy her suffering. She eventually calmed down and took a deep breath, her crying finally ceased.

Arthur released her from the hug and lifted her head up and brought Wendy's gaze to look at him. He gently put a hand to her face and brushed away a tear from her cheek. Something about the way she looked at him made his heart swell, unlike anything he had ever felt before. Wendy looked at him the same way, and that's when she noticed the strange marking on his upper lip. A scar or a birthmark, perhaps? She never asked him. She stared into his beautiful green eyes, which grew soft upon meeting her own brown ones. She studied his face and took careful note of his features. He was handsome, in his own way. He certainly wasn't ugly. He had a boyish charm about him, a soft aura that radiated from his smooth-skinned face. His hair was long and disheveled, but she didn't mind. He seemed so shy and quiet, someone who was not very social with other people. Perhaps he didn't care for it. Maybe they didn't care back. He looked like the kind of man who lived a life of isolation, though he dared not let her in on why.

"Happy?" Arthur's mother called out.

Arthur and Wendy jumped a bit at the sound of her voice and clutched onto each other, looking over toward her bedroom.

"Happy, are you awake?"

"Yeah, Mom", Arthur answered.

"Could you run me a bath?"

"Okay, Mom." Arthur turned back and looked at Wendy and she looked at him, slightly confused.

"That's your mother?" Wendy asked him.

"Yes, that's my mother", Arthur answered, adding in a whispered voice, "And she doesn't know about you being here. I don't want to be rude and rush you out, but-"

"No, I understand", said Wendy.

Arthur turned to the door and opened it to let her out, but Wendy did not move. She just stood there and stared at him, as though she were thinking about something.

"What is is?" Arthur asked her.

"Well, I was thinking", said Wendy. "If it's possible, could I see you again?"

Arthur looked at her in bemusement, his eyes widening a bit as he asked her, "You want to see me again?"

"Yes", Wendy answered. "Once I find my uncle and get myself settled, I can come back here and we can get to know each other a little more. So far, you're the most decent person I've run into in this miserable city."

With a little smile on his face, Arthur chuckled lightly and ran a hand through his hair, telling her, "Well, I don't really...I mean, I'm not..."

Wendy frowned unhappily at the tone of his uncertainty. Arthur couldn't stand to see her like that, and so he thought it over real quick, seeing how he couldn't say no to the scarlet beauty. Nodding his head, he answered, "Okay."

"Great!" Wendy exclaimed, rewarding him with a laugh and a grin. She took him by the hand and kissed it. Then she looked at him and said, "Thank you for taking care of me, Arthur. That was very sweet of you." She walked out.

Arthur shut the door and locked it and latched it with the chain. He turned and leaned his back against the door, looking at the hand that she kissed. He whispered her name under his breath. "Wendy."

Through the smog and grim of the wretched streets filled with crime, Wendy sat quietly in the backseat of a taxi cab, allowing the driver to take her to where she needed to go. She remembered something about a chemical plant called Axis. Other than that, there was no other clue as to who her uncle was or who he worked for or where he lived in Gotham City. She had heard about him once when she was twelve, but had never actually seen him, let alone a picture of him. Her Uncle Jack, being the younger brother to Wendy's mother, was considered by many to be the black sheep of the family. When asked why, Wendy was told never to bring it up again. Her mother died five years ago. And no less than two weeks ago, her father went to join her. Whatever it was, the secret mystery of her Uncle Jack went with them.

The taxi let her off at a factory that had a giant neon red sign above it that read **Axis Chemicals**. _This is where he works?_ Wendy thought to herself. She walked over and placed a hand on the chain-link fence blocking her entrance, looking over the place. There was a pipe coming out of the side of the factory. Thousands of gallons of toxic green sludge were being dumped into the Gotham East River.

"Hey", said a masculine voice.

Wendy gasped and turned around and was confronted by a man in his forties. He had brown eyes and brown hair with touches of gray at the root. He was wearing a dark purple suit. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. I'm looking for a Jack Napier", said Wendy.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been almost a week since Arthur and Wendy first met each other. He didn't giver her much thought, though he wondered whether she found her uncle or not. He wondered if she meant it about seeing him again, though she probably forgot about him by now, which wouldn't have surprised him. Most women never liked him anyway, but then again, nobody liked him.

He sat in front of the mirror applying his clown makeup, getting ready to go do a job for a music store that was going out of business. His job was to stand outside and spin a sign to attract people's attention.

He stood out in front of the store, dressed up in his clown outfit and green wig with a little brown derby hat. His clown persona, Carnival, was happily holding the sign out in front of everybody, dancing merrily as they walked past him in the street. _Everything must go!_, the sign read. Very few paid him any attention, but Arthur didn't seemed too worried. He was only supposed to attract people in. He stood in front of the store, dancing happily and spinning the sign around like a professional. A very easy task, he thought. Even the man playing the piano right next to him seemed to help draw in a small crowd.

Just then, a gang of teenage boys came up to Arthur, one of them knocking the sign right out of his hands. The one boy stole the sign and ran off with it. His friends followed behind him.

"Stop! Stop them!" Arthur shouted. No one listened to his plea. And so, having no other choice, Arthur went running after them. It wasn't easy, especially since he was wearing those over-sized clown shoes.

The teenage boys ran down the sidewalk with the stolen sign and cut across the street in the middle of oncoming traffic. Arthur ran across the street, almost getting hit by a taxi cab in the process. He chased them down the block and saw them turn a corner. He slipped on his way into the alley, but stood back up and continued to pursue them.

Soon as he caught up with them, the one boy bashed the sign into his face, breaking it and knocking Arthur down to the ground. The juvenile delinquents then took part in kicking him and beating him up. Arthur covered the back of his neck and placed a hand between his legs, curled up into a fetal position while the teenagers abused him. Why they were attacking him out of all people, he didn't know. He had done nothing wrong to upset these kids. Why were they hurting him? He just didn't understand it. Soon as they were through, the teenage boys turned around and walked away, leaving the poor clown lying there in the alley. Arthur lied there on the ground, breathing heavily and suffering in pain. His body hurt all over and he assumed he was dying. The air was in his lungs, but he did not feel alive. He'd rather have been dead. The red flower on his lapel squirted out water, acting as though it were crying and sharing his pain.

* * *

In the midst of a conversation with his social worker, Arthur burst out laughing and coughed down on his attempt to control it. He cleared his throat and laughed again. The look on his face was one of sorrow and heartbreak. There were tears in his eyes. It was not a pleasant experience for him and he hated it every time he laughed for no reason. There were many times he wanted to cry, but the only sound that was allowed to escape from him was his laughter. He choked down on his laughing twice and put a hand to his throat and struggled to breath after his attack happened.

The social worker, Ms. Debra Kane, sat behind her desk and waited for him to regain his composure. Stone-faced and serious and never giving off so much as a smirk, Ms. Kane was very familiar with Arthur's condition. She acted as though she never gave a damn about him or any of her clients, but her job forced her to listen to their everyday struggles. Either way, she showed little to no sympathy.

"Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?" Arthur asked, his voice sullen and low.

"It certainly is", answered Ms. Kane. "People are struggling, looking for work. They're upset. These are tough times."

Arthur chuckled lightly.

"What about you?" Ms. Kane asked him. "Have you been keeping up with your journal?"

"Yes, ma'am", Arthur answered.

"Great. Can I look at it?"

Arthur didn't answer her that time. A knot developed in his stomach and began to twist and turn with anxiety. He looked away and took a long drag from his cigarette, remaining silent.

"Arthur", said Ms. Kane, "last time you were here, I asked you to bring your journal. May I see it?"

Arthur's right leg bounced up and down vigorously. His leg always did that every time he was nervous or anxious. He placed a hand on his thigh and balled a fist around the material of his pants. He smiled uncomfortably and ran a hand through his hair and held the cigarette between his lips as he reached down and took out his journal and handed it over to her.

"I've been using it as a journal, but also as a joke diary", Arthur explained.

Ms. Kane opened the journal and browsed through the pages filled with Arthur's most private thoughts. There were bad jokes and crude drawings on every page, there were even some clippings of naked women cut out from a porn magazine. Unfazed by the material, Ms. Kane continued to look through the journal, until she stopped on a page to read out loud a sentence written in sloppy, childlike handwriting: _I just hope my death makes more cents then my life_.

Ms. Kane looked at Arthur with mild concern. He, in return, lowered his gaze and laughed nervously. Ms. Kane closed the journal and set it down on her desk in front of Arthur.

"Arthur, how does it feel to come here? Does it help to have somebody to talk to?"

Arthur inhaled his cigarette, blowing out a small puff of smoke. He thought it over a while before he answered. "I think I felt better when I was locked up in the hospital", he said.

"Have you thought more about _why_ you were locked up?" Ms. Kane questioned him.

"Who knows", Arthur responded.

Ms. Kane gave him a look of annoyance and picked up a pen and wrote something down on a clipboard.

Arthur brought the cigarette to his lips again, the tip glowing bright red before he blew out another puff of smoke. "I was wondering if you could ask the doctor to increase my medication", he said.

Ms. Kane pulled out a piece of paper from a folder and carefully looked over his medical record. "Arthur, you're on seven different medications", she said. "Surely, they must be working."

Arthur was silent for a moment, and then he told her, "I just don't want to feel so bad anymore."


	4. Chapter 4

He took the bus back home. His head resting against the window, Arthur looked out of the corner of his eye and noticed a young face staring back at him. A small black boy staring at him with a bored expression on his face. Arthur didn't like seeing any child be so unhappy, let alone bored out of their skull. He sat up straight and decided to amuse the child, seeing no harm in it. He made a grimacing face and concealed it with both his hands, revealing to him a surprised expression. This made the boy laugh. Arthur continued to make the child giggle with his funny face antics, but the boy's mother did not approve. She turned to Arthur.

"Would you please stop bothering my kid?" The mother snapped.

Arthur gave a polite smile and explained, "I wasn't bothering him, I was just-"

"Just stop!" The mother demanded.

The boy sat back down in his seat, disappointed. He was actually enjoying the funny man playing peek-a-boo with him.

Arthur felt a wave of sadness come over him, as well. What followed next was another wave, only this time it was a wave of laughter. An appropriate time for it to happen, as usual.

The mother turned her head and looked at Arthur again. "What, you think that's funny?" She asked offended.

Arthur looked at her with sad eyes and continued to laugh, shaking his head. He put a hand to his mouth, shaking his head again as he reached into his pocket for something. He pulled out a laminated card and handed it to her.

"I'm sorry", said Arthur, trying to catch his breath. "I have-Ha ha ha ha!"

The mother looked at the card and turned it over for more information on his condition. She looked at Arthur with pity and turned back to face forward in her seat with her son.

Arthur sat there in defeat, resting a hand on his chest as the laughing slowly died down. He silently cursed his laughter for bringing him such pain and causing him to look foolish in front of others.

Arthur got off at the bus stop and walked down the sidewalk with a limp. He was sore from the beating he took. He staggered down the street as he made his way home to his apartment. The night grew dark and cold. There was smog in the air. There were sirens in the distance. Nothing new from any other night in Gotham City. He walked down to the pharmacy and went in to pick up a refill on his medication.

More bags of garbage lined the sidewalk, but this did not bother him as much as when he turned the corner and looked up toward his least favorite part of the day. The towering stairs. Once again, Arthur was forced to trudge up those same damn stairs in order to reach the safety and comfort of his home. With his head held as low as his spirit, Arthur slowly walked up the stairway, feeling the struggle of everyday life weighing down on him like a boulder.

Once he entered the apartment building, Arthur took out the keys from his pocket and checked the mailbox. Nothing. Again. He took the elevator and got out and went down to apartment 8J.

He unlocked the door and went inside and placed his keys on the small shelf and then tossed the bag of medicine into the kitchen. He closed the door and removed his jacket and hung it up on the coat rack.

"Happy, did you check the mail before you came up?" His mother asked him from her bedroom.

"Yeah, Mom. Nothing", said Arthur.

He went into the kitchen and opened the white paper bag from the pharmacy and took out three prescription bottles, looking at each one and seeing what they were for. He set two of them down on the counter and opened the other one. He poured out two pills and swallowed them down with a drink of water. He placed the bottle next to his other medications and began to prepare his mother her dinner.

Arthur walked into his mother's bedroom with a TV dinner on a serving tray. His mother, Penny, was sitting up in bed and watching the news. She had a faint smile on her face, her faded yellow hair draped over one shoulder. The man on television talked about a rat infestation. Arthur placed the serving tray over his mother's lap and began to cut her meal into small pieces while they talked.

"He must not be getting my letters", said Arthur's mother, talking about Thomas Wayne.

"He's Thomas Wayne, Mom", Arthur reminded her. "He's a busy man."

"Oh, please", said his mother, brushing off his comment. "I worked for that family for years. The least he could do is write back."

"Here, Mom. You need to eat."

"_You_ need to eat. Look how skinny you are."

Arthur sat down in a chair next to the bed and looked briefly at the television and ran a hand through his hair and looked at his mother with a small smile. She was in such a good mood, he didn't want to ruin her day with what happened to him at work.

"He'll make a great mayor. Everybody says so", said his mother.

"Oh, yeah?" Arthur asked playfully. "Everybody who? Who do you talk to, Mom?"

"Everybody on the news", his mother answered. "He's the only one who can save this city. He owes it to us."

A band started to play jazz music on the television screen, announcing the start of the next program.

"Come sit down, it's starting", said Arthur's mother.

"All right."

Arthur turned off the lamp on the nightstand and stood up and walked over to the other side and sat down on the bed. He turned off the second lamp and removed his shoes and socks and sat criss-cross on the bed with his mother. It was time for the Murray Franklin Show. It was the most popular television program in Gotham and almost everybody watched, including Arthur and his mother.

The opening music played in the background and a male announcer introduced the main host of the show. Pretty soon, Murray Franklin came out from behind the curtain and waved to the crowd.

Murray Franklin, a sixty year old man dressed in suit and tie, came dancing out onto the stage to greet his audience. Gray-haired and with a wrinkled face, he looked like a friendly old man, but once the camera stopped rolling, he was nothing more than a smug snake. Somewhere underneath that celebrity charm and fake ass grin, he was nothing more than a sour-faced grouch. No sympathy whatsoever!

To Arthur, however, Murray Franklin was a man of charm and talent. He practically modeled himself after the older comedian and often looked to him for inspiration. Watching the Murray Franklin Show was the highlight of his day and he almost never missed it. He often wondered what it was like being on the show, and sometimes even imagined being a member of the audience, or even being on the show himself as a guest.

* * *

At the moment, Arthur fantasized about sitting with the audience, applauding with the crowd before sitting back down in his seat.

"Thank you, thank you", said Murray. "We've got a great looking audience tonight."

Murray addressed the audience with a quick joke about the super rat problem overpowering Gotham City. His punchline? To release a gang of super cats into the streets and let them take care if it.

The audience laughed at Murray's weak joke, including Arthur, who burst out laughing like a hyena.

Just as Murray was about to address the audience with another joke, Arthur raised his voice and shouted out to the talk show host, "I love you, Murray!"

"I love you, too", Murray replied. "Who is that? Was that you?" He pointed toward Arthur and asked, "Hey, can we get the spotlight on him? Stand up, son."

The spotlight shined down on Arthur and the audience applauded. Arthur stood up and waved shyly to those around him. He looked at Murray and placed his hands behind his back, smiling brightly.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Hi, Murray. Um, Arthur...M-My name is Arthur", he said timidly.

"All right", said Murray. "Well, there's something special about you, Arthur. I can tell. Where you from?"

"I live right here in the city with my m-mother", said Arthur.

The audience laughed, but Murray defended him.

"All right, hold on! There's nothing funny about that. I lived with my mother before I made it big. Before, it was just me and her. I'm that kid who's father went out for a pack of cigarettes and he never came back."

"I know what that's like, Murray", said Arthur. "I've been the man of the house for as long as I can remember. I take good care of my mother." He spoke the last part with pride. The audience applauded him.

"All that sacrifice, she must love you a lot", said Murray.

"She does", said Arthur. "She always tells me to smile and put on a happy face. She says I was put here to spread joy and laugher."

The audience applauded him again, and Arthur was soaking up every ounce of it. He smiled his biggest smile, feeling happy for once.

"I like that, I like that a lot", said Murray. "You know what? Why don't you come on down here, Arthur? You gotta come down."

The crowd clapped hard and burst into applause, but Arthur, although he was honored, kindly waved off Murray's offer.

"Yeah, come on. Come on down", Murray encouraged.

Arthur finally gave in and obliged. He walked down onto the stage and shook hands with Murray. The talk show host patted him on the shoulder and Arthur turned to the audience to take a bow before the adoring crowd.

"All right, don't go anywhere, folks", said Murray to the camera. "Stay tuned and we'll be right back."

Once they were off the air, Murray turned to Arthur and told him, "Hey, that was great, Arthur. I really appreciate it. You know something? You made my day."

"Thanks, Murray", said Arthur.

"You see, Arthur, with all the spotlights and success and stuff...Well, I'd give it all up any day just to have a son like you."

Murray wrapped his arms around Arthur, embracing him into a tight hug. To Arthur, it was as though he were meeting his father for the first time. For one tiny moment, he was happy. In his own little world, he was accepted and loved.

* * *

And that was the way Arthur always saw it. A man who he admired for years, welcoming him as if he were his own blood. He was the father figure he wished he could have had. He hardly remembered his own.


	5. Chapter 5

On the Upper West Side of Gotham City, Wendy was standing in the kitchen of her uncle's apartment, making a sandwich. She heard the front door open and looked over and asked, "Uncle Jack?"

"Who else?" He answered.

Wendy went back to fixing her sandwich. She added another piece of lettuce on top of the ham and squeezed from a bottle of mustard. "Uncle Jack, I'm making a sandwich. You want one?" She asked him.

"No, thanks", Jack responded. He took off his topcoat and hat and hung them up. He went into the living room. The television was turned on. "The World Series?" He asked himself.

Wendy turned and went to put the mustard back in the fridge and turned her head to look at her uncle, who was busy checking himself out in a mirror hanging on the wall. That was one thing she noticed about him. He wasn't very handsome, but he did have a sense of style and appearance. He took great pride in the way he looked. He was something of a vain man and he seemed to have a dark aura around him. He rarely smiled, but even when his smile was genuine, there was something very creepy about him. He was very intelligent and was not a man to be messed with. From the moment they first met, Wendy couldn't help but feel there was something gangsterish about him.

Jack poured himself a glass of bourbon and went to sit down on the couch. He picked up the remote and switched the channel to the local news. The anchorman was talking about the rat infestation overpowering Gotham.

Wendy came into the living room and set her plate on the coffee table and reached a hand into her pocket, pulling out an envelope. "By the way, a man came by earlier and dropped this off for you. He said his name was Joe Chill."

Jack looked at the auburn-haired woman and took the envelope from her. There was no name or address on it. He set his drink on the coffee table and opened it. Wendy left him for a moment and returned to the kitchen. Jack read the letter to himself and crumbled it and tossed the balled-up paper over his shoulder. Wendy came back with a beer and set it on the coffee table and sat next to her Uncle Jack. He seemed uninterested in her company.

Wendy helped herself to her sandwich and took a bite. "Anything new?" She asked through a mouthful.

"Just the usual", said Jack, not taking his eyes off the screen. He picked up his bourbon and rested his legs on the table in front of him, taking a sip.

The anchorman changed the subject from the giant rat problem to the ongoing garbage strike, and finished off the eleven o'clock hour with the mention of a campaign for Thomas Wayne running for mayor.

"They've been talking all day about that", said Wendy.

Jack turned his head to her with a raised eyebrow. "You know what they say about him, don't you?"

Wendy scoffed. "So? He's better than the other twelve dozen clowns running for the position. Besides, people will try anything to ruin a man's reputation." She finished her sentence with another bite of her sandwich.

Jack chuckled and said, "You got a lot to learn about Thomas Wayne, kid." He downed the last of his drink and stood up and said, "I need to make a phone call."

Soon as he was out of the room, Wendy picked up the remote and switched the channel back to watch the rest of the game. The game went to commercial and a TV spot for the Murray Franklin Show came on.

Wendy stared at the screen showing the preview of the Murray Franklin Show, feeling a deep, penetrating hatred for the main talk show host. She had never met him before, but there was something about that man that she despised. Her right hand started to squeeze the bread and lettuce into a crumbled mess, the mustard dribbling out of the end. The cold ham squished between her fingers, feeling slimy to the touch. She pretended to be strangling his neck. The next commercial came on, showing an advertisement for a woman's perfume. Wendy did her best to focus on something else other than the ugly-faced, mush-mouthed Murray Franklin. Her ruined dinner now a heap of junk in her lap.

* * *

Arthur sat there on the bench in the locker room, hunched over with dark bruises on his shoulder blades and around his torso. There were large bruises on his body from the beating he took the other day. He felt sore, but went on with his day as if nothing had happened. He wore no shirt, but was wearing a pair of dark blue pants that seemed almost too big for him. The strength of his long, thin arms and the grip of his bony hands were choking the nonexistent life out of an over-sized clown shoe. He breathed deeply through his nose, letting go of the anger building up in his system. It wasn't healthy for him.

Just at that moment, a heavyset man named Randall, one of his coworkers, came over and opened his locker to put his clown uniform in it.

"Hey, you okay, Art? I heard about what happened yesterday", said Randall. "Fucking savages."

Arthur smiled a bit. "It was just a bunch of kids that should have left it alone", he murmured.

"You can't let them do that", said Randall. "You let them take advantage of you like that, they'll walk all over you."

Suddenly, Randall looked at Arthur and then reached for something inside his locker and took out a rolled-up brown paper bag and gave it to Arthur. "Here, kid. Take it. It's for you."

"What is it?" Arthur asked him. He unrolled the bag and looked inside, laughing nervously at the Colt .38 handgun and box of bullets.

"For your protection", said Randall.

Arthur looked up at the heavyset man and said, "Randall..." He looked over his shoulder to make sure nobody was listening and whispered to him, "I'm not suppose to have a gun."

"Don't sweat it", said Randall. "Nobody has to know. You can pay me back when you can. You know you're my boy."

Arthur smiled gratefully at his older coworker. He knew he could always count on him.

At that moment, Gary walked into the locker room and said, "Arthur, Hoyt wants to see you in his office."

"Okay, Gary", said Arthur, rolling up the paper bag and rising from the bench to stick it inside his locker.

"Hey, Gary, you know what I always wondered?" Randall asked him.

"No, Randall. What?" Asked Gary.

"Do you people call it miniature golf or is it just golf?"

The other clowns and entertainers in the room laughed at Randall's insensitive joke. Gary just rolled his eyes.

Arthur did not think it was very funny, but his condition said so otherwise. A burst of laughter erupted from him as he put on his shirt and buttoned it up. He walked pass Gary, who knew Arthur didn't mean it. He considered Arthur to be a good man and a decent friend, but sometimes he wondered what he might have been like had he not been born with his condition.

Soon as he was out of the locker room, Arthur's laughing stopped and a blank expression appeared on his face. He walked down the hall and opened the door and entered into Hoyt's office.

"Hello, Hoyt. Gary said you wanted to see me", said Arthur.

"How's your comedy career? You a famous stand-up yet?" Hoyt asked him without looking up from some paperwork on his desk. His office was a complete mess.

"Not quite. Just been working on my material."

Arthur was about to take a seat, but Hoyt told him, "No, don't sit down. This will only take a minute."

Arthur obliged and stood there with his hands folded in front of him. He felt like a school boy having been called into the principal's office.

"Look", said Hoyt. "I like you, Arthur. The other guys, they think you're a freak. But I like you. I don't even know why I like you. It's probably that laugh of yours. It kills me. Gets me every time."

Arthur nodded, not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. He thought it best not to ask.

"But I got another complaint", Hoyt continued. "It's starting to piss me off. Kenny's Music Store. The guy said you disappeared. You never even returned his sign."

"Because I got jumped. Didn't you hear?" Arthur asked him.

"Some kids stole the sign? That's bullshit. It doesn't make sense. Just give him back his sign. He's going out of business, for God's sake, Arthur."

"Why would I keep his sign?"

"How the fuck do I know? Why does anybody do anything? If you don't return the sign, I got to take it out of your paycheck...Are we clear?...And let me tell you something else. The other guys don't feel comfortable around you..."

Arthur was calm and mellow, but deep down inside him, he was screaming. Part of him wanted to curse his boss out and strangle him for treating him like he was a retard, but for the sake of his job and appearance, Arthur just stood there and took the verbal abuse, smiling like a Stepford wife. He didn't care if he looked like a moron with a stupid grin on his face. He wanted him to know that he understood. With an unblinking stare, he allowed his boss to vent at him. The raging storm was back, the anger building up inside him again.

By the end of the day, Arthur stopped behind the back alley of Ha-Ha's Talent Booking, thinking of it as the perfect place to release all of his anger and frustration in private. It was raining a bit, a light drizzle. His hood was down, but he wasn't worried about the water falling down from the sky. He was more upset with how he was talked down today by his boss. He was scolded for something he didn't do. He told Hoyt the truth. Why didn't he believe him? He was furious, outraged. He felt like slamming his head against a wall. He walked halfway down the alley where no one could see him. All the pent-up rage and frustration he took out on a dumpster and released a wild animal inside him, something that possessed him to loose control and reach his breaking point. Arthur grunted with each thrust as he stomped and kicked the side of the dumpster. Finally, he collapsed to the ground. Arthur sat there on the ground, hugging his knees to his chest. He didn't care that money was being taken away from him, though it helped a lot. What upset him more than anything was that his boss didn't believe his side of the story. All because he had a mental illness. It wasn't Arthur's fault he had a mental illness. He didn't ask to be born the way he was. All he ever wanted was a little sympathy. Nobody gave it to him.


	6. Chapter 6

The same end-of-the-day ritual occurred like any other. The bus ride back home. The same walk up the begrudging stairs. Checking the mailbox only to find there was nothing in it. It almost drove Arthur crazy performing the same task anymore. He closed the mailbox and walked over to the elevator. The door opened and he stepped inside and pushed the button several times to go up.

Just as the door was about to close, he heard a female voice holler at him, "Wait! Wait!"

Arthur stopped the door with his hand just in time to allow a black woman and her daughter to step inside. The door closed and the elevator slowly went up. The mother, twenty-something year old Sophia Dummond, was leaning against the wall holding a bag of groceries. Her daughter stood next to her, looking up at Arthur. The little girl smiled at him, but Arthur didn't look at her. As much as he loved children, he wasn't in the mood to talk to anybody.

The elevator came to a halt, stopping in the middle of taking its passengers up to their destination. Just like everything else in the rotten apartment complex, it was falling apart.

"This building is so awful, isn't it?" Sophia bemoaned.

Arthur looked at Sophie. It was the first time since she ever spoken to him. None of the other tenants ever spoke to him before, not even during Christmas. He had seen Sophie a few times, but never had the courage to talk to her. It was the first time she acknowledged that he existed. Sophie was a kind and decent person and tried to act like people weren't invisible, even though she was struggling.

"This blinding is so awful. Right, Mommy?" The little girl asked. "So awful. Right, Mommy?"

Sophie locked eyes with Arthur and made the sign of a gun with her index and middle finger, pointing at the side of her head.

Arthur smiled at her. It wasn't everyday he met somebody who shared the same belief as him. He wanted to continue the conversation with her further, but the elevator suddenly jolted back to life and went up again.

The elevator dinged once it came to the right floor. The door opened and the mother and her daughter stepped out.

Arthur stepped out after them and turned to walk down to his apartment, but then turned back to Sophie and said, "Hey."

Sophie turned back to look at him.

Arthur made the same gun motion with his two fingers and pretended to blow his brains out in a dramatic fashion, rolling his eyes and lolling his head over to one side as though he were dead.

Sophie nodded and gave him an awkward smile before opening the door to her apartment and stepping inside with her daughter. Arthur heard the door lock and turned and went down the hall to retire to his own dwelling.

Arthur walked into his apartment and took off his jacket and walked into the living room. He placed the brown paper bag on the coffee table and then went into the kitchen and took his medication.

He checked in on his mother, who was sitting up in bed and watching a silent movie. Arthur went over and kissed her cheek and asked her about her day. She said she slept most of the time. Arthur went about fixing her dinner and sat with her while she ate. Soon as the movie was over, Arthur ran his mother a bath and helped wash her while she sat in the tub. He filled a plastic container with water and poured it over her hair.

"Did you get my letter from Thomas Wayne?" Arthur's mother asked him.

"Mom, why is that letter so important to you?" Arthur questioned her.

"He's gonna help us", she answered.

"You worked for him, like, what? Thirty years ago? What makes you think he's gonna help us?"

"Because Thomas Wayne is a good man. And all I know is...If he saw this place, it would make him sick. I can't explain it to you any better then that."

"I don't want you worrying about money, Mom. Or me", said Arthur. "Everybody's telling me my stand-up is ready for the big clubs."

"But, Happy, what makes you think you can do that?" His mother asked him. "Don't you have to be funny to be a comedian?"

Later that night, once his mother feel asleep, Arthur sat on the couch in the living room. His chest was bare and so were his feet. He was wearing his dark blue sweatpants. In one hand, he was holding a cigarette between his fingers. The TV was on, showing an old black and white movie staring Fred Astaire. Arthur took a long drag of his cigarette and blew out a puff of smoke, the intoxicating vapor swirling around his head like a daydream cloud. He placed his cigarette into the ashtray and looked at the revolver sitting on the table. He traced a finger over the gun and picked it up to examine it. He had never owned a gun before, let alone touched one.

Arthur cocked the gun and decided to have some fun with it. He pointed it at the television screen. He aimed it at the chair to his left and pretended to pull the trigger.

"Bang", said Arthur. He lowered the gun and looked at the TV. The legendary Fred Astaire was dancing and singing along with a line of factory workmen, all while a upbeat tune played in the background.

Arthur stood up and raised his arms above his head, holding the gun in one hand. His chest stuck out, showing off his naked, skeletal torso. His hips moved to the jazzy rhythm playing on the screen.

He imagined a pretty girl was standing next to him and asked in a feminine voice, "_Hey, what's you name?_"..."Arthur."..."_Hey, Arthur. You're a really good dancer._"..."I know. You know who's not? Him."

Without warning, Arthur accidentally fired the gun at the wall. A loud bang echoed through the living room. He dropped the gun and stumbled and fell to the floor. _Oh, shit!_ He thought internally. His first reaction was to turn the volume all the way up on the TV, hoping to drown out the sound of the bullet that was fired. He stood up and went to examine the wall where a bullet hole was evident. His mother called out from her room.

"Happy? Are you all right? What was that noise?"

Arthur stuck his finger in the hole in the wall, hoping the tenant next door didn't hear anything. The last thing he needed was a complaint about a noise disturbance after hours. His mother continued yelling at him.

"I'm fine, Mom! I'm watching an old war movie!"

"Turn it down!"

Arthur ran both hands through his hair, mentally berating himself for acting like a complete idiot. He didn't know the first thing about gun safety and was already starting to regret taking the weapon.

"Sorry, Mom."


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Arthur woke up and got dressed and told his mother he was going out for a while. He walked out of the apartment and locked the door and went down to the elevator. He went down to the lobby and walked out of the building and walked across the street. He waited fifteen minutes before Sophie and her daughter walked out of the building. He kept his hood pulled up over his head to conceal his identity. And then he followed them.

Arthur followed them from the other side of the street, keeping his distance as he stalked the woman and her child. He saw them turn a corner and crossed the street. They walked down the same stairs that he walked up and down everyday. Arthur watched them from the top until they were about halfway down and continued to pursue them. They never even noticed he was following them.

Watching from a chain-link fence, Arthur observed as Sophie dropped off her daughter at school and gave her a hug. Soon as the little girl walked into the building, Sophie left to go to work. Arthur watched her turn a corner and continued to pursue her in secret. He followed her to the subway platform and hid behind a support beam. They both sat in different subway cars, but Arthur could still see her through the window of the second car. She was reading a book, not even paying him any attention. His heart was racing, a burning desire filled his soul. He only wanted her to notice him.

Arthur followed her all the way to William Street and watched as Sophie walked across the street to Gotham City National Bank, the place where she worked. He waited until she disappeared inside the building and walked across the street, stopping right in the middle of the road. He changed his mind and turned around. He walked back over and stood on the corner for a moment. Just then, a taxi cab pulled up to the side of the road. The back door opened.

Her feet encased in a pair of red heels, Wendy Napier stepped out onto the sidewalk, a long black coat wrapped around her body.

Arthur recognized the auburn-haired beauty and asked her, "Wendy?"

Hearing her name called out, Wendy gasped and turned around to see who it was. "Arthur?"

Arthur removed his hood and smiled at her. Wendy gave him an even bigger smile and ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck, happy to see him. "Oh, my goodness. It's so great to see you again."

"It's nice to see you, too", said Arthur, hugging her in return.

Wendy released Arthur from her tight hold on him and looked at him. "How have you been?" She asked.

"I'm fine. Great, actually", said Arthur.

"Good, that's good", said Wendy. "I've thought about you all week, I just haven't been able to come by and say thank you."

"For what?"

"For what you did. I told Uncle Jack what happened between me and Mark, and he said that if he ever came around me again, he was a dead man."

Arthur chuckled, thinking that it was a joke, and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "So, did you find a job yet?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah, did I tell you? I got a job as a waitress at Grimaldi's Diner."

"Do you like it there?"

"Yeah, I've worked there five days already", said Wendy. "In fact, I was on my way over there right now. You want to walk with me?"

Arthur looked to his right and then looked at Wendy. "That's like four blocks away", he said.

"I know", said Wendy. "But I like to walk. Come on, we can talk on the way."

"You know, you shouldn't walk alone in the city, Wendy", said Arthur. "People here are crazy."

"So I've heard", said Wendy. She looked at Arthur and asked him, "So, what have you been up to lately?"

"Nothing much. Just been working a lot."

"What do you do for a living?"

"Well, uh, I'm a party clown."

"That sounds like fun. Do you go to kids parties or charity events or something?"

"Sometimes." Arthur suddenly felt a tension in his left shoulder and placed his hand on it to ease the achiness a bit.

Wendy noticed the slight discomfort and asked him, "Your shoulder hurt?"

"Yeah, I just got jumped by some kids last week", Arthur answered.

Wendy held her arm out to stop him and stood in front of him, stopping him where he stood. "What happened?" Wendy demanded.

"Wendy, you don't want to hear about it", said Arthur, acting like it was no big deal.

"No, I do", Wendy insisted. "Come on, tell me."

Arthur hesitated for a moment. He looked to his left and lowered his arm back down to its side. He looked at Wendy and told her, "Last week, I was outside of Kenny's Music Shop holding up a sign. I was doing promotional work for the store because it was going out of business. And these kids came up to me and thought it was funny to steal the sign and I had to chase after them. I chased them across the street and almost got hit by a taxi cab."

"You mean that was you? You were the clown chasing those kids?" Wendy asked him.

"You saw that?"

"I was there, I was sitting in the back of the taxi cab that almost hit you. I was on my way to work. The driver came to a halt and started cursing you out. Boy, you should have heard some of the things he said."

"If you knew that was me, why didn't you do anything?" Arthur asked her.

"I didn't know you were a clown then", Wendy told him. "I thought that clown was just a random guy. If I had known that was you, I would have done something. Did you get your sign back, at least?"

"No. I chased those kids into an alley and they busted the sign right before they started to beat me up."

"Beat you up? Did you fill out a report or anything?"

"No. Why would I? They were just kids."

"That's no excuse for them to steal your sign and beat you up. You know what I think? I think it's the parents' fault. Some parents just don't know how to raise their children anymore. You know what I'd do if those were my kids? I would pull their pants down, place them over my knee and spank their little bottoms without a second thought just to teach them a lesson. That's what I'd do."

Arthur couldn't help himself from laughing at her remark. It was not like one of his uncomfortable laughing outbursts, but rather a genuine laugh of hearing the way she worded it to him. He actually thought it was funny.

"Maybe I'm too mouthy for my own good, but either way, I can't stand it when people have nothing better to do with their lives than to cause misery to other people", said Wendy.

Arthur chuckled and said to her, "You know, I-" He coughed a bit and cleared his throat and said, "I'm not just a clown. I...I also do stand-up comedy."

"Really?" Wendy asked him, sounding intrigued.

"Yeah, you should come and see a show sometime. We could go there tonight."

"Well, that would be wonderful. I could...Oh, wait, I can't."

"Why not?"

"I have work tonight."

"Well, you know, the club is open almost every night. You could come by and see me some other time. How about Saturday?"

"Perfect."

"Great. I'll see you then."

"I look forward to it."

* * *

Later on, once he left Wendy to go on with her day at work, Arthur decided to take a walk by himself in the city. He stood on the corner and lit a cigarette, holding it between two fingers while he inhaled. He blew out smoke and looked around. The garbage strike was still going strong. More plastic bags lined the sidewalks everyday. Once in a while, Arthur would see a rat crawling in the gutter. It was funny, he thought, how rats and people were not very much different from each other. We both lived off of the filth of the world, struggling each day to thrive and exist in the game called life.

Arthur took a long drag and sighed deeply. He felt conflicted about the two women he was feeling attracted to. One of them was nice to him, the other one barely knew he existed. He had seen Wendy only twice and had a civilized conversation with her, but with Sophie, he was just too shy to approach her or say anything. What was it about the mysterious redhead that gave him such power and confidence? She was friendly and not afraid to speak her mind. She had a caring heart, but was also very sensitive. A true feminine woman. He barely knew anything about Sophie, and yet, he still wanted her to love him more than Wendy. He was so confused.

His daydreaming was interrupted when some random guy in a business suit handed him a flyer. Arthur took it and saw that it was for the upcoming campaign for Thomas Wayne running for mayor. Arthur looked up from the flyer and remembered where he was. He was standing right across from Wayne Enterprise. Twenty-five floors of steel and glass. Arthur looked both ways before crossing the street. He stood there on the concrete stairs, watching the many men and women coming in and out of the giant glass doors. He looked up at the tower again, holding the flyer in his hand.

He felt intimidated, entirely out of place in his baggy clothes and unkempt appearance. It was almost hard for him to believe that his mother used to work for the family that owned the building.

Arthur turned around and looked over and spotted Thomas Wayne and his beautiful wife, Martha, just as a long black limousine pulled up next to the sidewalk.

"Mr. Wayne!" Arthur called out to him, running over to talk to him. "Mr. Wayne! Please, wait!" Just then, Arthur tripped over his own feet and fell hard on the concrete ground. Nobody stopped to ask him if he was hurt. Arthur looked up in time to see Thomas and Martha step inside the back of the limo. The car drove off. Arthur got up and brushed off his shoulder, forgetting about asking him about his mother. He went on with his day.

* * *

Later that night, Arthur went to the comedy club where he liked to spend time listening to aspiring young men and woman share their love of bringing joy and laughter to the world. Arthur carried his journal with him every time he went there, jotting down notes and laughing like the rest of the crowd. Not everyone was a success, but most were able to get a few good laughs out of him. Arthur sat at a table by himself, writing down something in his journal while the man on stage joked about his sex life.

* * *

When he got back home, Arthur took care of his mother and then put her to bed. He sat down at the table and opened a blank page in his journal and picked up a pen and wrote down: "_I saw Wendy again. She smiled and hugged me. I was starting to think she wouldn't remember my name or my face if I ever saw her again. She made me feel alive when I heard her say my name. If only everybody were as good and decent as she is._"

Arthur set down his pen and paused to take a smoke break. He lit a cigarette and took a drag, blowing out smoke before he placed the cigarette in the ashtray and began to look for a previous page that had not so much writing on it. He picked up his pen and started writing down another sentence.

"_The worst part about having a mental illness is..._"

Arthur paused again and smoked his cigarette. He took a long drag and put his fist to his forehead, thinking about what else to write. He laughed to himself and placed the cigarette back into the ashtray. He picked up his pen and finished the rest of the sentence.

"..._people expect you to behave as if you don't._" He then drew a smiley face into the "O" of the word "don't". He set the pen down and laughed again.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning, Wendy woke up and got dressed and decided to make some breakfast for her uncle before she had to go to work. She started the coffee pot and made some bacon and eggs.

Straightening his tie as he came in, Jack Napier walked into the kitchen to see what she was doing. The smell of food caught his attention, as he watched his niece acting like the woman of the house.

"What's all this?" Jack asked her.

"Morning, sleepy head", said Wendy. She turned around with a plate of food in one hand and walked over to the table. "I made you some breakfast. Hope you like it."

Jack sat down at the table just as she brought the plate over and set it down in front of him. Wendy motioned for him to start eating. Jack added some salt and pepper to his eggs and tasted them.

"Well?" Asked Wendy. "How is it? Any good?"

"Not bad", said Jack, his mouth full. "What does a guy have to do to get a cup of coffee around here?"

Wendy turned around and went over to retrieve the coffee pot. She walked back over to the table and poured him a cup. "You take your coffee with cream or sugar?"

"No, thanks", said Jack.

Wendy went over and set the coffee pot back on the stove. She picked up a piece of buttered toast and turned to lean back against the counter, taking a small bite.

"I didn't hear you come in last night", said Jack, dipping his bacon into the egg yolk. "Where were you?"

"I had to work late last night", said Wendy. She swallowed and said, "Besides, I went to the movies at the last minute. You don't mind, do you?"

"Whatever you do with your spare time is up to you", said Jack. "If you ever decided to move out, it wouldn't make any difference to me, one way or the other."

Wendy didn't expect him to answer her like that. "Well, I have to get ready. My shift starts in half an hour", she said. She took another bite of toast and walked out to let her uncle enjoy his breakfast.

Wendy went into her room and sat at the vanity to look at herself in the mirror. She was wearing a sky blue waitress dress with a white apron. Just as she was brushing her hair, Jack Napier appeared in the doorway. Wendy caught sight of his reflection in the mirror and turned her head to look at him. He was standing there looking at her, shuffled a deck of cards in his hand. He looked like a crime boss.

"You remember that story you told me about that guy you met?" Jack asked her.

"What guy?" Wendy asked him.

"The one that helped you out of that situation downtown with your asshole boyfriend", said Jack.

Wendy looked away from him and said, "Uncle Jack, he's not my boyfriend. Not anymore." She picked up a mascara brush and used it to give her eyelashes a more fuller look. "As for the new guy, his name is Arthur Fleck. He lives in the same building as Mark, but he's not like him. He's very sweet and so funny." Wendy chuckled to herself and said, "I guess he would have to, being that he's a clown."

"A clown?"

"Yeah, he works for a place called Ha-Ha's." Wendy swapped the mascara brush for a tube of bright pink lipstick and applied it onto her lips to give them some color.

"I've heard of it. That's the place that rents out magicians and male strippers."

"Uncle Jack, he's a party clown." Wendy set the lipstick down and adjusted the name tag on her sky blue uniform. She stood up and turned to face him. "Well, how do I look?"

"Like it matters?" Jack turned around and walked out of the bedroom.

Wendy walked out of the bedroom and went over to the front door to retrieve her coat off of the coat rack and put it on. As she buttoned up her coat, she turned to her uncle and asked him, "Uncle Jack, why don't you and me hang out tonight?"

Jack turned around to face the red-headed woman, giving her a disdainful look. "Now, why the hell would I do that?"

Wendy turned around to face him and shrugged her shoulders, saying, "I just thought you might like to do something together. I heard about this comedy club called Pogo's and was wondering if you wanted to go check it out. Arthur's taking me there this Saturday."

Jack pulled a card out from his deck and looked at it. He glanced over at her again and gave her a wicked smile as evil and menacing as a shark. "And? What do you want me to do about it?" He asked her in a sarcastic tone of voice.

Wendy detected that he was getting irritated with her. All she wanted to spend some time with him, and he hadn't taken one interest in her since she got there. "Uncle Jack, is there something wrong? You seem a little bit ticked."

Jack walked over to his niece and slipped the deck, minus the card he picked out, into his pocket. He placed a hand on the wall behind her, almost cornering her. Wendy leaned back against the wall, feeling uncomfortable by his sudden strange behavior. She was more than right about that creep factor about her Uncle Jack. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Let's get one thing straight here", said Jack. "I don't have time to babysit a woman who looks like she's twenty, but acts like she's six. I told you you could stay here as long as you didn't get in my way or ask questions. You live here for free because you're my sister's kid, but that doesn't mean I have to waste my time looking out for your ass. You may not have noticed, but I have a life. My schedule doesn't work around yours. You want to hang out? Then I suggest you go out and find a couple of girlfriends to screw around with. Or maybe you should ask your new boyfriend to fuck your brains out if he's not too busy. My boss is a tired old man who expects me to carry out his dirty work without doing a goddamn thing himself. I may not like it, but I know he can't run this city without me. You want to hang out with Uncle Jack, then I suggest you do it while I'm here. Now do I make myself clear?"

Wendy stared at him, almost too afraid to say anything. She thought about running out of the apartment and never coming back. Finally, she nodded and answered him, "Yes, sir."

"Good", said Jack. He removed his hand from off the wall and walked over to fetch his hat. He placed it on top of his head and then turned around and walked back over to Wendy. "Thanks for breakfast, kid", he said. "It's been fun, but I've gotta run. My boss doesn't like to be kept waiting. Stay out of trouble, will ya?" He handed her the playing card. With a trembling hand and a hint of reluctance, Wendy took it from him. "Have a night day."

Jack turned and walked over and opened the door and shut it behind him on the way out. Wendy stood there, not understanding what that was all about. She looked at the card her uncle gave her. It was a Joker card.

* * *

Meanwhile, at a hospital, Arthur was dressed up as his clown character, Carnival, entertaining a ward of sick children. He performed magic tricks and made balloon animals for them. It gave him so much joy to see the look on their smiling little faces. He wore a white lab coat over his costume while singing and dancing to the tune, "If Your Happy and You Know It". It was all going well until he stomped his foot during the song and the gun fell out of his pocket. Arthur looked down at the floor and let out a shriek of panic. He bent over and tried picking it up, but his giant clown shoes kicked it away from him. He finally managed to get a hold of it and hid it inside his coat. He looked around at the shocked faces of the children staring at him. Caught red-handed, he decided to improvise and go along like it was part of his act. Nobody, not even the doctors, nurses or parents were laughing.

"Hoyt, please. I love this job", Arthur begged. Once his routine at the hospital was finished, he called Hoyt from a payphone outside and tried to explain himself, but the hospital staff got to him first and complained.

_"Arthur, I need to know why you brought a gun to a kid's hospital."_

"It's a prop. It's part of my act now."

_"That's fucking bullshit, Arthur! What kind of clown carries a fucking gun? Besides, Randall told me you tried to buy a .38 off of him last week. He was in here with me when the call came in."_

Arthur was shocked to hear this. Why would Randall do such a thing? Why did his friend rat him out? Why didn't he say something to defend him? "Randall told you that?"

_"You're a fuck-up, Arthur, and a liar! You're fired!"_

The dial tone rang loud in his ear. The phone slipped from his hand. Arthur leaned his body forward, his forehead touching against the glass. He banged his head hard against the telephone booth. It cracked.

* * *

_What am I going to do now?_ Arthur thought to himself. How am I going to support my mother and myself? Would she be mad, or maybe disappointed in him? What would she say? Arthur had no other qualifications or skills, and it would be very difficult for him to find another job. People in Gotham were already struggling to look for work. Why should it be any different for him?

At the moment, he was sitting down on the subway train. The lights flickered on and off several times. Most of his clown costume was stuff into the bag on the seat next to him, but he still kept his bright green clown wig and makeup on. With the sad look in his eyes and the perpetual frown hidden behind his painted smile, he looked like a tragic figure of comedy.

The subway came to a stop and opened the doors to let passengers on and off. Three men dressed in business suits stepped inside and took to the far end of the train. They were all drunk and talking to each other. Two of them stood while the third man sat down in a seat. He was holding a fast food bag. The doors closed and the train started to move again.

"I'm telling you, man. She wanted my number. We should have just stayed", said the first man.

"She wasn't interested in you", said the second man.

"Did you see how close we were dancing?" The first man asked his friend.

Arthur looked to his left and listened to them. The three business men were sitting some distance from him. There was a young woman sitting opposite from them. The third man sitting down offered her some food, but the young woman said she didn't want any. The man with the fast food bag took out a French fry and flung it at her. His two friends laughed and tried to get her to come over and be nice to them. The young woman looked uncomfortably at them and then glanced over at Arthur, her eyes pleading for help.

Arthur didn't know what to do. He knew it was rude of them to be harassing her, but what could he do? There was only one thing he could think of and that was to distract those three men with his laughter. Seeing how it was none of his business, but always wanting to help out, he began laughing.

The three men stopped their harassment of the young woman and glanced over at the laughing clown. "Is something funny, asshole?"

Arthur didn't answer them. He continued laughing, know it wouldn't stop until it wanted to. The young woman stood up and walked out of the subway car to move into the next one. She made a mental note to remember the clown later. The first man advanced toward Arthur, mocking him with a pathetic rendition of _Send in the Clowns_ by Frank Sinatra. He danced around one of the poles, as the second man came over and sat down next to the laughing clown. He took off Arthur's clown wig and put it on himself, laughing in his face just as Arthur's laughter was starting to calm down. The third man came over and stood by the first man just as he concluded the song.

Arthur tried to pull out one of his condition cards, but the first man grabbed his bag and took it from him. Arthur stood up and tried to take it back from him, but the first man tossed the bag over to the third man. The second man grabbed Arthur and held him by his arms while his friend punched him in the face, knocking him down to the ground. He felt blood beginning to pour down from his left nostril.

"Stay down, freak!"

The three men started beating him up, kicking him as he lied there on the floor of the subway train. The pain was dull on his body, but he could still feel the blow from each of them. Right away, a spark of insanity began to flood his brain with a very dark thought, an unholy way of getting back at these three men. After all those years, Arthur finally had enough of taking abuse from people. Now it was the time to fight back. He pulled out the gun and fired.

_BANG!_

The first man was shot in the head, his blood splattered everywhere. The lights flickered again. The gun fired a second time and the second man was shot twice in the chest. A scream of terror. The third man ran over toward the door and was shot in the back of his leg. He yelled in pain and went into the next subway car to escape, calling for help but to no success.

Arthur stood up and pointed the gun around, holding it in his left hand. He started breathing very hard. He didn't know what came over him, nor did he care. Arthur gathered up his clown wig and stuffed it into his bag before pursuing the third man, who screamed for help and started banging on the doors to be let off the train. As though on command, the subway slowed down and came to another halt and opened the doors.

The third man got away and existed the train, still calling for help. His calf was bleeding.

Arthur existed out of the subway train just before the doors closed on him and continued to follow after the third man. He and his friends started it, now Arthur intended on finishing it.

The third man screamed as he hobbled over toward the stairs, Arthur fast-walking right behind him. He fired another shot, causing the third man to fall down on the bottom step. He whimpered in pain as he tried to crawl up the stairs, but Arthur wouldn't let him get away. He fired several more times into the guys back until the gun chamber clicked on empty.

For a moment, Arthur stood there panting, still holding the gun in his hand. His head was rushing, his heart racing from the adrenaline. There was a ringing in his ear. The warmth of blood still ran down from his left nostril.

_Oh, my God, what have I done?_ Arthur thought to himself, snapping out of his delusional state. He had just committed a murder! He stuffed the gun into his bag and ran up the stairs out of the subway platform.

Arthur ran as far away as he could. He ran down the street and under the bridge. He ran passed a tall chain-link fence. He turned to his left and found an old building to hide in and took shelter in an empty bathroom. He dropped his bag and stood there with his hands on the door, taking a minute to catch his breath, while also thinking about the three men he just brutally murdered. He was only trying to help that poor woman, and all he got was a good beating out of it. Those three men should have minded their own business, but they didn't. Arthur had never killed anyone before in his life. Even thinking about it made him sick. He didn't feel so well, and yet, for some unknown reason, he felt no remorse over his actions. In a way, he felt something new he hadn't ever felt before: freedom. As though possessed by some dark spirit, Arthur felt an sudden urge to express himself through dancing. His left foot moved over across his right foot and he slowly twisted his body to the right. With the flick of his right wrist, his arms began to sway dramatically. A symbolic dance took control of him, as he raised his right arm over his head, graceful and swanlike, like a bird spreading its wings for the first time. Arthur continued the tranquil, swaying pattern of his solo performance with great ease and acceptance, moving his body to the invisible strings of cello music playing in his head. Once the ritual dance of purification was done, the clown turned to the mirror behind him, holding his arms out like a messiah. His painted Glasgow smile concealed the neutral feeling.

Arthur went back home and checked on his mother in her bedroom. She was sleeping. Arthur moved a strand of hair out of her face and kissed her forehead and caressed her cheek gently with his fingertips. He turned around and walked out and shut the door and then went into the bathroom. He turned on the sink and started to remove his clown makeup with lukewarm water and a washcloth. Once he was finished, Arthur looked at himself in the mirror and saw his face was slightly red from the scrubbing. His hair was a mess and he felt sweaty, his clown outfit would never be worn again. He turned off the tap on the sink and decided to strip out of his clothes and take a shower. He stepped in and closed the shower curtain and turned on the water, allowing the relieving fountain to wash away the sin of his action. Somebody would find those three bodies sooner or later, and there would definitely be a story on the news all about it throughout the rest of the week. Arthur ran his hands through his hair, feeling as though he should cry about those three men, but he didn't. The urge to laugh about it broke out of him and Arthur did not care how it affected him that time. It was not as painful as most occurrences. For once, he was happy to smile and laugh about something that was inappropriate.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, Wendy was sleeping in her bed, an arm draped over her chest. The room was dark and quiet. The door opened and somebody walked into the sleeping woman's bedroom. The carpet muted the sound of shuffling feet as they walked over to the window. The intruder glanced over at the auburn-haired beauty and pulled down on the chord, opening the blinds that shielded the sliding glass door that led out to the balcony.

Blinded by the incoming sunlight, Wendy groaned and threw her other arm over her face and turned over.

"Time to get up, sweetheart", said Jack.

Wendy turned over to look at her uncle and sat up at once, covering herself with the blanket. She was wearing a nightdress, but was not expecting to get a wakeup call from him. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

"It's 11:30", Jack answered.

"Well, can you get out so I can get dressed, please?" Wendy asked him.

Jack scoffed at her with a smirk and turned around to head out. He shut the door behind him.

Wendy threw the blanket off of her and placed her feet on the floor. "God", she muttered, standing up and walking over to the bathroom. She locked the door and took off her nightdress and took a shower. Once she was done, she dried herself off with a towel and got dressed and brushed her hair as she walked out to the living room. Jack was sitting in an armchair, staring at the TV while shuffling his lucky deck. Wendy walked over and sat down on the couch and listened about the murder of three gentlemen from Wall Street that was being broadcasted on the channel.

"Oh, my God", Wendy whispered.

"It's a tough job, but somebody had to take 'em out", said Jack.

Wendy looked at Jack and questioned him, "Excuse me?"

"People are saying it was a man dressed up as a clown that did it", said Jack. "That's what all these people are talking about now. Three less jerks in Gotham and only one-million, five-hundred thousand more to go." He pulled out a card from his deck and tossed it up in the air. He caught it and looked at it. The Four of Spades.

Wendy looked back at the TV. The newsman reported that police had no clue as to the identity of the shooter, but advised viewers to be on the lookout.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Arthur was at Ha-Ha's Talent Booking gathering his things from his locker. He emptied out his locker quietly. Nobody even bothered to say goodbye to him. Except Gary.

"Hey, Arthur. I heard about what happened. Sorry, mate."

Arthur smiled at the empathetic regard from the small man. He truly was a nice fellow, unlike Randall.

"Yeah, doesn't seem right. Getting fired like that."

Arthur dropped his smile immediately and cursed the man he used to call friend. He was one to talk, seeing how it was all his fault that Arthur got fired in the first place.

One of the men playing cards at the table turned in his seat and asked him, "Did you really bring a gun to a children's hospital? Why the fuck would you do that?"

"What, where you going to shoot yourself if your dancing act didn't work out?" Another one asked.

Arthur closed his locker and picked up his bag, ignoring their comments. Everybody laughed at him, but Arthur found the perfect jab to nail the one that ratted him out.

"Why don't you ask Randall?" Arthur remarked. "It was his gun. I still owe you for that, don't I?" He turned around and started to walk away.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Randall questioned him. "Stop talking out of your ass, Arthur."

Arthur didn't look back at the fat bastard. His only response was holding up a horn and honking it before tossing it carelessly over his left shoulder. He turned the corner and disappeared.

"Uh-oh", Arthur exclaimed sarcastically. He came back and said, "I forgot to punch out." He then proceeded to beat the living daylights out of a clock that was hanging on the wall. He struck the clock about five times before it finally came off the wall and fell onto the floor. He turned again and walked out, laughing maniacally. He walked down the stairs and looked up at a sign hanging above the exist door. _Don't forget to smile_, it read. Arthur reached into his bag and took out a marker and blacked out the '_forget to_' part of the sign. With a spring in his step, he walked out of the building for the last time.

* * *

Wendy took a taxi to 135th Street. She was hoping to catch Arthur at Ha-Ha's before heading to work at Grimaldi's Diner. On the way, she saw a person standing on a corner wearing a clown mask.

"They're sellin' masks", said the taxi driver. He sounded like he was from New York.

Wendy looked forward in her seat and asked him, "What?"

"They're selling clown masks based off the description of the guy who killed those rich tycoons. I guess it's a thing now. There's a lot of people in this city who are happy the guy did it."

"Why?" Wendy questioned him.

"Who knows? People in this town hear something on the news, they make a big deal out of it than it really is", said the taxi driver. "They say the guy who did it is a hero."

"I don't believe it", said Wendy. She looked out the window again and said, "A man goes around killing people and they want to praise him as a hero? I don't think so. Personally, I think it's scary."

The taxi driver glanced at the red-headed woman in the rear view mirror. Wendy continued looking out the window. She looked anxious about seeing that clown on the corner.

The taxi driver shifted his eyes forward and made a left turn. "So, Ha-Ha's Talent Booking, huh?"

"I know. Ironic, isn't it?" Wendy asked with a chuckle. "The one place I shouldn't be going to and yet I'm going there anyway." She looked forward and asked, "Do you think I'm doing the wrong thing?"

"Hey, it's your time, it's your money", said the taxi driver.

The taxi driver pulled up next to the sidewalk on 135th Street. He turned in his seat to look at Wendy. He looked like he was in his early thirties. He had dark eyes and a mole on his cheek.

Wendy paid the driver and got out of the cab. The driver rolled down his window and said to her, "You know, this is a dangerous part of town to be in. If you ever need a ride, look up Travis Bickle."

"Travis Bickle", Wendy repeated. "I'll remember that."

"Lots of luck, sweet cheeks", said the taxi driver.

Wendy turned her head and gave him a look, but chose to ignore that remark. The taxi driver took off, leaving her to fend for herself. Looking across the street, Wendy saw Arthur coming out through the door of Ha-Ha's Talent Booking. He was carrying a brown shopping bag in one hand. He turned and spat on the building and then started walking away. He pulled out a cigarette from the pocket of his jacket and held it between his lips as he brought out a lighter and lit up. He turned around when he heard somebody call out his name. A heavy-set man wearing clown makeup and dressed in red overalls and a white shirt came up to him and started talking to Arthur. He was obviously a coworker, maybe even a friend. Wendy stood on the other side of the street, watching them from afar. Whatever it was they were talking about, the heavy-set man seemed desperate. He grabbed Arthur by the lapel of his jacket, as though he were threatening him or pleading him for a favor. Wendy couldn't tell. Arthur shook his head and said something to the man and turned around and started to walk away again, taking a long drag. The heavy-set man tried talking to him again. Arthur turned around and looked at him. The heavy-set man came closer and tried to appeal to Arthur, who laughed and walked back over to him. He grabbed the big red nose from the man's face and tossed it on the ground. The man went chasing after it and Arthur turned with a smile on his face, smoking a cigarette. He laughed as he turned the corner and disappeared.

Wendy looked both ways before carefully crossing the street and ran after him. She turned the corner and walked up to him as she called out his name. "Arthur!"

Arthur turned around and took the cigarette out of his mouth. "Wendy, what are you doing here?" He asked her, surprised to see her on this side of town.

"I thought I'd come see you while you were at work", Wendy answered. "But I guess you're not working today."

"Actually, I just went there to gather my things", said Arthur. He crouched down and extinguished his cigarette on the ground.

"Why?" Wendy asked him.

Arthur stood up and told her as he flicked his used-up cigarette away, "They let me go."

"Let you go? You mean you were fired?" Wendy questioned him.

Arthur blinked and lowered his eyes to the ground. Then he looked at her and said nervously, "Yeah."

"What?! Why were you fired?" Wendy asked him, sounding outraged.

"That guy I was talking to thought I was a freak", Arthur told her. "My boss said I wasn't funny enough and that I'd be better off finding another job somewhere else."

"He can't do that!" Wendy protested. She grabbed Arthur's hand and said, "Come on, I'm going to go back there and-"

Arthur pulled her back and said, "It's too late, Wendy. I've already been fired."

"But that's unfair!" Wendy shouted. "Did you at least tell him about those punk kids that beat you up?"

"Yes, I did, but he still didn't believe me", said Arthur.

Wendy turned around and groaned in frustration, running her fingers through her auburn curls as she walked away. She turned back and lowered her arms down to her sides and walked back over to Arthur, sighing. She wanted to scream at somebody or cry for him or do something, anything. Arthur waited patiently for her to calm down. He could tell she was getting worked up.

"Did you really come down here just to see me?" Arthur asked her, wondering if she really meant it.

"Well, of course I did", said Wendy. "Just because there's a killer clown on the loose doesn't mean I didn't want to come see you in your clown outfit."

Arthur did his best not to show any sign of guilt over his action. He wasn't bothered by it, but he still didn't want Wendy to know. He didn't think she knew it was him. Either way, he was glad she was blind to his crime.

Wendy looked at the bag he was holding and asked him, "What do you have in there?"

"Oh, just the usual", said Arthur, opening the bag for her to see. "Clown makeup, wig, flower squirter, balloons-"

"A clown nose?" Wendy asked him, reaching in and pulling out a Styrofoam red nose, squeezing it a bit.

"You like that?" Arthur asked her.

"I've always wanted to wear one of these", said Wendy. She looked at Arthur and asked him, "Can I try it on?"

"Yeah, here." Arthur took the clown nose from Wendy and placed it gently into her own nose. The soft material of the rounded clown nose felt ticklish on her face.

Wendy touched the red nose on her face and looked at Arthur with soft eyes. "How does it look?" She asked him.

Arthur smiled and said, "It actually looks better on you than me."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it actually does."

The screeching of tires caught their attention. Arthur and Wendy looked in the same direction and saw a stretch limo park on the other side of the street. The door opened and a man stepped out. Dressed in a dark topcoat and fedora, Jack Napier walked across the street and over to his niece. Wendy moved closer to Arthur for protection, feeling an uneasiness coming from the uncle she once sought out.

"Hey, you got a minute?" Jack asked her. He sounded sincere, but Wendy could never be too sure with him anymore. She nodded in response. Jack lowered his face and pinched the space between his eyes with a tired groan. He looked at his niece and said, "Listen, about the other day...I didn't mean to scare you. It's just been a rough couple of days at work, that's all. You may have noticed I've been a little crabby lately. No hard feelings?"

"It's fine, Uncle Jack", said Wendy, timidly.

Jack nodded, giving her a modest, genuine smile and then giving her a look of confusion. "I thought you said you hated clowns", he said, noticing the Styrofoam red nose.

Wendy removed the clown nose and handed it back to Arthur, who slipped it into his coat pocket. "Um, Arthur, this is my uncle, Jack Napier", said Wendy. "Uncle Jack, this is Arthur Fleck. The one I was telling you about."

"So, this is the famous Arthur I've heard so much about", said Jack. He offered his hand out and said, "Nice to meet you, at last."

"Thank you, sir", said Arthur, shaking his hand. "Wendy's talked so much about you, as well."

"I hope she hasn't told you everything", said Jack. "Where do you live, kid?"

"I live in the downtown area with my mother", Arthur answered.

Jack raised an eyebrow at him in amusement. "A family man, huh? I like that in a guy."

Arthur smiled politely, but Wendy looked uncertain, not sure what kind of mind game Jack was playing at. She could see right through his facade and asked him, "Is there something wrong, Uncle Jack?"

"Not at all", Jack answered, turning his attention over to his niece. "But with all this talk about a killer clown on the loose, the guys and I were thinking about taking precaution. In case you want to get killed, I suggest you arm yourself."

"If your suggesting I need a bodyguard, I don't think I'm interested in what you got or what you have to offer me", said Wendy. "Let's go, Arthur."

Jack grabbed her by her arm and pulled her back, turning her to face him. He looked infuriated. Slowly, the madness on his crazed face lessened and he straightened out his suit and fixed his hair.

"You didn't let me finish speaking", said Jack. "If you don't protect yourself, you gonna get fucked."

The goon in the driver's seat honked the horn and said, "Come on, Jack! Let's go!"

Jack turned his body and raised his hand. "Yeah, I'll be right there", he said. He turned back to Wendy and said, "I'm gonna be working late tonight. I don't think I can make it home before ten."

"I don't mind", said Wendy.

"I know you don't. And I know you're old enough to take care of yourself, but here in Gotham, these people will eat you up. Now that some psycho is on the loose killing rich people, you can imagine the chaos that will ensue. You're not scared this clown guy might show up out of nowhere and start killing somebody else, are you?"

"Of course I am", Wendy answered him. He knew damn well that she was terrified of the whole killer clown situation.

"Then you know it's not my job to babysit you", said Jack. He reached into his coat pocket and said, "I know you walk to work sometimes, and I don't trust a woman to use a gun, so I got you a little gift." He pulled out a narrow black box and gave it to Wendy. She opened the small black box and found it was a silver switchblade with a black handle. Arthur felt a little uncomfortable seeing Wendy holding a weapon, but chose not to say anything.

"I want you to carry that thing everywhere you go, otherwise some guy will drag you off the street and not think twice about selling you off as his whore", said Jack. "You got nothing to worry about, kid. Nothing happens in this town without my say-so." Jack nodded his head toward Arthur and told him, "Stay out of trouble, kid. I might just learn to like you." He walked across the street and got in the limo with his friend. The limo started and drove off.

Wendy still wondered what exactly he was trying to pull. He gave her a weapon to defend herself, but there was something about his sudden niceness that threw her off. "What kind of drugs are you on, Jack Napier?"

Suddenly, Arthur felt a spasm in his cheek and tried in vain to stop the powerful urge to burst out laughing, but the battle was lost on his part. Anger and sadness filled his eyes, as the profound laughter erupted from his mouth, causing Wendy to jump a bit and gasp in fright. Arthur noticed he had scared her and quickly turned away and placed a hand over his mouth to try and muffle some of his laughing.

"What? Was it something I said?" Wendy asked him.

Arthur shook his head as another fit of stress-filled laughter forced its way out of him. He placed his free hand on his stomach, feeling a slight pain in his lower torso. He couldn't stop his laughing. He uncovered his mouth and stuck his hand into his pocket, pulling out a card and handing it to Wendy. "I'm sorry", he managed to get out. "I have a...Ha ha!...I have a condition- Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Wendy looked at the card Arthur had given her and read it to herself:

**_Forgive my laughter. I have a condition. (More on the back.)_**

_**It is a medical condition that causes sudden, frequent and uncontrollable laughter that does not match the way you feel. It can happen to people with a brain injury or neurological disorders.**_

_**Thank you!**_

_**(Please return the card.)**_

Arthur went on with his laughing fit for another two minutes and moved his hand from his mouth to his throat as the laughing ceased. He struggled to breathe for a minute, but finally managed to calm down. Wendy looked at him with sadness and confusion, feeling sorry for him. There were tears in Arthur's eyes, but they did not flow. He stayed silent, feeling ashamed and embarrassed that Wendy had seen him at his most vulnerable.

Wendy placed a comforting hand on his left shoulder and asked him, "Are you okay?"

Arthur kept his head down, not wanting her to look at his face. He wanted to cry, but he had nothing to show for it expect the watery eyes from his laughing fit. "I'm sorry you had to see that", he murmured.

"Arthur, look at me", Wendy told him.

He didn't comply.

Wendy tried asking him again. "Arthur, look at me. Please?"

Arthur didn't want to, but knowing she wouldn't give up until he did, he slowly turned and lifted his head and looked at her, miserably.

"Arthur, it's okay", Wendy reassured him. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's just a condition. I know you didn't mean it...Do you want to talk about it?"

Arthur took his time in answering her. "No. I have an appointment with my therapist this evening", he said.

Wendy nodded in understanding and said, "Okay." She dare not question him on why he needed therapy, for she already knew the answer. Arthur turned around and started walking away from her.

"Hey, we're still on for Saturday night, aren't we?" Wendy called out to him at the last minute.

Arthur stopped and turned back to look at her. He seemed surprised to hear her say that. He walked back over to Wendy and asked her, "You mean you don't mind going out with me?"

"No", said Wendy. "Arthur, I don't care if you have a condition. I like you for just being you."

"Who am I, Wendy?" Arthur asked her.

Wendy shrugged, not sure what he wanted her to say or how to put it to him without hurting his feelings. "You're just...Arthur", she answered truthfully. "You're Arthur Fleck. And that's all I care about."

Somewhere underneath all that fragility and humanity left within him, Arthur felt just a tiny glimmer of hope that not all was lost for him and Wendy. She was the only person who hadn't judged him because of his condition.

Wendy got lost in his bright green eyes for a moment and then quickly snapped herself back into reality. She cleared her throat and said, "Well, I should be getting to work here soon. If I'm late, they'll dock me."

"I understand", said Arthur.

"You try and have a nice day now, Arthur", said Wendy. She said goodbye and started walking away.

"Bye, Wendy", said Arthur.

Wendy turned back and waved at him. "Bye."

Arthur watched her go, her curly bush of auburn hair in excellent contrast with that long black coat she was wearing. Whoever her uncle was, he must have been either very rich or very powerful.


	10. Chapter 10

After his encounter with Wendy, Arthur went straight to the social worker's office. The same boring building, in the same depressed room, with the same uncaring woman.

"Arthur, you were supposed to to bring your journal with you, remember?" Ms. Kane inquired him.

"I didn't think you were gonna read it", said Arthur, taking a long drag from his cigarette and blowing out smoke. He really didn't want to be there right now.

"You said it didn't bother you."

"Well, I lied."

"Why does it bother you?"

"My journal contains original material I don't feel comfortable with handing over to anybody. It's personal, my private thoughts. Everything about it bothers me."

Ms. Kane sat there for a moment, staring at her client. She wrote something down on her clipboard. She was very annoyed with Arthur and wasn't in the mood to be arguing with anybody.

Arthur inhaled from his cigarette again and laughed to himself. "You know, it's funny", he said. "I heard this song on the radio the other day...This guy was singing and he said his name was Carnival. The funny thing is, that's my clown name at work. And until now, I never really knew if I existed-"

"Arthur, I have some bad news for you", Ms. Kane interrupted him.

A flash of anger burned in Arthur's eyes, as he looked at Ms. Kane and shook his head in disapproval. "You don't listen, do you? You just ask the same questions every time I come in. '_How's your job?_' '_Are you having __any __negative thoughts?_' All I have are negative thoughts." He tried to sound as calm and patient as he could and continued. "I said, for my whole life, I never knew if I really existed...But I do...And people are starting to notice."

Secretly, Arthur was hinting to her that it was actually him who committed the subway murders. If she didn't get it, he didn't know who would.

"They cut our funding", Ms. Kane told him. "The city is closing down our office next week. This is the last time we'll be meeting."

Arthur took in the news as slowly as possible, letting it dawn on him that he would never be allowed to come back to the social service office again. "Okay", he whispered under his breath, sounding depressed.

"They don't give a shit about people like you, Arthur", said Ms. Kane. "And they don't really give a shit about people like me, either."

He knew it was going to be bad the moment he walked into the office and saw most of the case files were gone. Arthur didn't care that he wouldn't be going to these stupid and useless meetings anymore to talk a person who didn't give a fuck about what he had to say. The only thing that concerned him was that social services was the sole reason he was able to obtain his seven different medications. Without them, he couldn't function normally.

Arthur took one last drag and then looked at the social worker and asked her, "How am I suppose to get my medication now? Who do I talk to?"

* * *

The next morning, Arthur woke up and started to take his medication. He didn't sleep much that night, spending half of it tossing and turning on the couch due to stress. He opened one of the orange pharmacy bottles and poured out the last two capsules on the kitchen counter. This would be the last time he would be taking one of his seven medications. He popped the pills into his mouth and swallowed them down with a drink of water.

The TV was on in the living room. His mother was watching the local news, waiting for her breakfast. The interviewer was addressing to the viewing audience at home about speaking with-

"Thomas Wayne", Arthur's mother breathed out, a faint smile on her face. "Happy, look! Thomas Wayne is on TV."

"Yes, Mother", said Arthur, rolling his eyes in annoyance. _Why is she so obsessed with him?_ He complained to himself.

"They're asking him about those horrible subway murders", said Arthur's mother.

This caught Arthur's attention. He walked out of the kitchen and went into the living room and gave his mother her oatmeal and then sat down on the couch. "Why are they asking _him_?" Arthur wondered, lighting a cigarette while he listened to Thomas Wayne. His nerves were triggered and his heart raced with anxiety. His leg bounced vigorously. What did he know about the subway murders? Why were people interviewing him about it?

"_I didn't know any of them personally, but like all Wayne employees, past and present, they were family_", said Thomas to the interviewer.

His mother started to say something, but Arthur shushed her and said, "Mom, quiet. I'm trying to listen."

"_There seems to be a movement of anti-rich sentiment in the city_", the interviewer commented. "_It's almost as if our less fortunate residents have taken the side of the killer._"

"_Yes, and it's a shame_", Thomas agreed. "_It's one of the main reasons I'm considering running for mayor. Gotham's lost its way._"

"_What about the eyewitness report of the suspect being a man in a clown mask or clown makeup?_" The interviewer asked him.

_Witness?_ Arthur thought. There was a witness? Who was it that saw him? Was it somebody he knew? He hoped not.

"_It makes total sense to me_", Thomas answered. "_What kind of coward would do something that cold-blooded? Someone who hides behind a mask. Someone who's envious of those more fortunate than themselves, yet too scared to show their own face. And until that jealousy ends, those of us who've made a good life for ourselves will always look at those who haven't as nothing but clowns._"

Arthur couldn't believe how clueless this man was. His anxiety quickly melted and formed into a twisted half-smile. He laughed to himself as he leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair, placing them behind his head.

"That's not funny", his mother said.

Arthur ignored her comment, taking a drag from his cigarette. He didn't care what she said, or what anyone else had to say about it. He was in the clear for now. He found it all amusing.

* * *

He stood on the corner across from the bank and waited patiently for her to come out. He had to see her again. Arthur smoked a cigarette while he waited, standing there as people walked by him and said nothing. He was invisible to them. Arthur hoped that this killer clown thing would catch on soon. It made him feel good about himself and gave him a bit of confidence and self respect.

He spotted Sophie walking out of the bank and carefully disposed of his cigarette. He fixed his hair as best he could and tried to look presentable as she came his way, hoping to get a chance to talk to her.

"Hi", said Arthur.

Sophie looked at him and Arthur noticed her eyes were slightly red.

"Hey, are you okay? What happened?" Arthur asked her, slightly concerned.

Sophie wiped her face and told him, "I had a bad day. I just got fired from the bank."

"What for?"

"It doesn't matter. I don't know what I'm gonna do now." Sophie sniffled and lowered her face, wiping away another tear.

Arthur didn't move or speak. He felt his stomach drop. The way he saw it, Sophie was not that very much different from him at all. They had both lost their jobs in the span of a week. He was curious to know.

"I'm sorry to hear that", said Arthur.

Sophie stared at him for a minute and asked, "Haven't I seen you before?"

Arthur tried to get a word out, but no sound came out of his throat. Just then, he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

"Arthur!"

Turning his head right, Arthur saw Wendy approaching him. She came over to him and said, "Hi."

"Hello", said Arthur, running a hand through his hair. He felt nervous and hoped he wouldn't burst out into another laughing fit. He wasn't expecting to see Wendy here, only Sophie. He felt awkward.

Wendy and Sophie looked at each other and Wendy asked Arthur, "Who's your friend?"

The black woman extended her hand and introduced herself. "I'm Sophie Dusmond."

The red-headed woman shook her hand and said, "I'm Gwendolyn Napier. Everybody calls me Wendy."

"Nice to meet you", said Sophie.

"You, too", said Wendy. She released her hand and said, "You live in the same apartment as Arthur, don't you?"

"Yes, I live there with my little girl. In fact, I was just about to go pick her up right now."

"Well, don't let us stop you", said Wendy. "Maybe we could get together and talk some time."

"I'd like that. See you later."

"Bye, Sophie."

Sophie looked at Arthur and then turned around and walked away. Part of him wanted to stop her and tell her how he felt, but he felt that if he did that, he would hurt Wendy's feelings.

Wendy looked at Arthur and asked him, "Do you like her?"

"Wendy, she's just a neighbor", said Arthur, trying to play it off like it was nothing.

"I'm just pulling your leg, Arthur", Wendy teased him. "You gotta learn to loosen up a bit and have a little fun."

Arthur chuckled a bit and then dropped his smile and told her, "Hey, listen. About yesterday-"

"Oh, that reminds me", said Wendy, reaching a hand into her pocket and pulling out a laminated card. "I forgot to give this back to you."

Arthur took the card from her and looked at it. It was one of his condition cards.

"You don't have to explain anything, Arthur", said Wendy. "I told you before I don't care if you have a mental illness. When I was in high school, I used to know a lot of special need kids." Wendy quickly realized what she just said and tried to correct herself. "No, I mean, I'm not saying you have special needs or anything-"

"I know what you meant", said Arthur.

"The point is", said Wendy, "I don't care if you have a condition. I like you for who you are. You're a good person."

"You really mean that?" Arthur asked her.

"Of course I do", said Wendy. "You're my best friend."

The smile returned to Arthur's face and his eyes light up like a Christmas tree. He never had a best friend before. His heart still yearned for a lover, but for now, he was happy to accept her friendship.

"Would you like to take a walk with me?" Wendy offered.

"Don't you have to go to work?" Arthur asked.

"Not today", said Wendy.

"All right."

Arthur and Wendy walked the street for almost an hour. They talked as they walked, mostly about their family and their upbringing. Arthur explained to her how his mother pretty much raised him by herself and how he came to be the supporter of the house when his mother ended up in the hospital at one point. Wendy told him about where she was born and who her parents were and what they did for a living and how they died.

"And then my father died and I moved out here", said Wendy, finishing her story. "But you already know about that part. Ever since I left Mark, I've been working a job trying to keep myself busy and make it out on my own."

"You still live with your uncle?" Arthur asked her.

"At the moment", Wendy answered. "With Uncle Jack, it's difficult. I mean, I love my uncle, but I don't know about him sometimes. Most of the time, I feel like I'm stepping on eggshells around him. But then there are times when I get so mad at him, I just want to punch him in the dick and never come back."

Arthur looked at her and let out a high-pitched laugh, trying to throw some humor into her situation.

Wendy looked at him and said, "No, I mean it. I've got nowhere else to go except back home. My father passed away almost a month ago and I don't think I'm ready to..."

Arthur wasn't listening to what she was saying. His mind was focused elsewhere. His smile was gone. The light faded from his eyes. Wendy looked forward, seeing the source of the problem. There was a gang of rowdy teenage boys picking on a seven-year-old blonde girl wearing glasses. They were taking turns tossing a black cat doll to each other, keeping it out of the girl's reach.

"Come on, you guys. Give her back!" The girl begged them.

"You want it? Come and get it", said one of the boys. He threw it to one of his friends and the girl tried to take it back, but the boy pushed her down to the ground, causing her to loose her glasses in the process.

Arthur recognized them as the teenage boys who beat him up last week. He wanted to get back at them, but with Wendy around, it proved to be difficult. Luckily for him, Wendy had a much more better idea.

Wendy placed her hand to his shoulder and whispered into his ear, "Let me handle it." She walked away from Arthur and went over to confront the boys.

"Hey!" Wendy told them, gaining their attention. "Why don't you brats pick on somebody your own size?"

One of them flipped her the finger and told her, "Hey, fuck you, lady!"

Wendy reached into her pocket and took out her knife, flicking the switchblade open and threatening them. "You want to say that again, punk?"

All at once, the teenage boys backed down and began stepping away from her. They weren't so tough after all.

"Whoa!" Said one of them.

"Holy shit!" Said another.

"Then drop the doll and get out of here!" Wendy told them.

"Yo, let's get outta here!" Said the one boy, dropping the cat doll and grabbing onto the sleeve of one of his friends. They all took off running down the street.

Wendy folded up the knife and stuck it back into her pocket. The little girl found her glasses and put them on, while Wendy squatted down and picked up the black cat doll and handed it back to her.

"Are you okay?" Wendy asked her.

The little girl looked at the grown-up woman and nodded and said, "Yes, ma'am."

"I'm Wendy. What's your name?"

The little girl stood there in silence, hugging onto her beloved cat doll.

"Hey, you can talk to me. I'm a good guy", said Wendy.

The little girl was just about to open her mouth and speak, but then the girl's mother came over and shouted, "Selina!"

The little girl named Selina turned around and Wendy stood up, hoping to explain to the mother what happened. The girl's mother picked up her daughter and said, "Selina, what did I tell you about talking to strangers?"

"I'm sorry, Mommy", said Selina.

"Ma'am, I was just trying to help her", Wendy explained. "She was getting-"

"Don't you have anything better to do than bother my child?" The mother snapped at her. "Come on, we're going home." The mother turned around and walked away with Selina, who smiled sadly and waved goodbye to Wendy. The auburn-haired woman turned to Arthur, who shrugged his shoulders.

Wendy walked back over to her friend and questioned him, "Is everybody in Gotham City an asshole?"

"Not everybody", Arthur answered. "Just most of us."

"Well, I'm sick of it", said Wendy.

Just then, a hand clasped itself over Wendy's mouth and dragged her body into the alleyway. She tried to scream, but it was muffled. The attacker pinned her up against the wall and Wendy found herself face to face with a person wearing a clown mask. Her eyes went wide.

"Hey, beautiful. Did you miss me?" The attacker asked her.

Arthur grabbed the attacker by the back of his shirt and pulled him off of Wendy. "Leave her alone!" He shouted.

The attacker fell against the dumpster and pulled out a knife. He yelled and tried to take a stab at Arthur, who turned around just in time and blocked the attacker by grabbing him at his wrists. Both men struggled for a bit, until Arthur butted his head against the attacker's, causing him to fall down on the ground in a daze. The attacker groaned as he put a hand to his covered face.

Wendy looked down at the attacker and kicked the knife away from him. She looked at Arthur, who placed his hands gently on either side of her face and asked her, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm all right", Wendy answered.

They both looked down at the masked clown, who sat up on the ground and put a hand to his forehead. Wendy reached down and pulled off the mask to reveal the identity of the attacker. Twenty-six years old, with blonde hair and blue-green eyes like a raging sea, Wendy recognized him right way.

"Mark?" Wendy asked him.

Mark stood up slowly, still rubbing the bright red spot on his forehead where Arthur hit him.

"You rat bastard! What the hell are you doing?" Wendy questioned him.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting to find you here, either", said Mark. "But now that you're here, maybe we can work something out."

"Mark, I don't want to talk to you", said Wendy, backing away from him out of the alleyway.

"Come on, babe", Mark urged her, approaching her in a creepy manner. "I just wanna talk to you. Don't you wanna talk to me? It's not like I'm asking you to fuck me or anything."

"Arthur!" Wendy exclaimed frighteningly, forgetting she had a weapon and could have easily pulled it out.

Arthur walked over and stepped between Wendy and Mark, confronting the man and saying to him, "Why don't you get over it, Mark? Wendy doesn't want you around anymore."

"Fuck you!" Mark shouted. He punched Arthur in the nose, causing him to fall down onto his side and groan in pain.

Wendy gasped in shock and looked at Mark, shouting, "You son of a bitch!" She socked Mark in the eye, sure to give him a black eye for the next two weeks.

Mark shook his head to get his attention to focus and stared at Wendy. He backhanded her, hitting her right in the face. She let out a cry of pain, feeling the rush of blood coming out of her nose.

A small crowd had gathered by the time Arthur stood up and looked at Wendy. She was bleeding from her nose, but not that much. Either way, it made him angry. He turned to Mark and glared at him, grabbing him by his neck and choking the abuser who dared to hurt a woman, especially his friend. Mark gagged and tried to get him to stop, but Arthur wouldn't back down. There were people staring and shouting for him to knock it off. There was the sound of a police siren in the distance.

Wendy pulled out a silk handkerchief and put it to her nose to stop the bleeding. She looked at both men and saw Arthur strangling Mark with all his strength. She was surprised by his masculinity, even if it was violent.

An approaching police siren broke up the fight. Arthur stopped strangling Mark and turned around and saw the crowd back away, two police cruisers pulled up next to the sidewalk. Arthur looked at Mark again and released him. Mark stared at him in shock for a moment. He looked at Wendy and took off running into the alleyway. He fell over once and scrambled back to his feet, never looking back.

"Mark! Mark, you coward! Get back here!" Wendy shouted.

Lieutenant Max Eckhardt got out of his car, pointing a gun at Arthur. "Freeze!"

Arthur turned again and slowly raised his hands to the same level as his head.

Two policemen got out of the other car and walked over to Arthur, while Wendy went over to talk to the fat lieutenant and said, "Officer, thank God you got here. This man and I were-"

Wendy turned to look back at Arthur and saw the two policemen grab hold of him and place his hands behind his back. He didn't even bother to put up a fight. He knew it wouldn't do him any good. If anything, it would only make the situation look worse. They dragged him over to the cop car, leaning Arthur over the hood of the car and patting him down in search of any weapons before taking out a pair of handcuffs.

"No, wait! Stop! What are you doing?" Wendy asked the lieutenant.

"Ma'am, we got a complaint from someone saying this man was disturbing the peace", said Eckhardt.

"Disturbing the peace? That's bullshit! You can't arrest an innocent man for defending a woman!" Wendy protested.

"Sir, you have the right to remain silent", said one cop, putting the cuffs on Arthur. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." He led Arthur over to the other side of the car and opened the back door, placing a hand on Arthur's head and helping him ease him into the backseat.

"All right, folks. There's nothing to see here, go on home." Eckhardt turned to the other cop and told him, "Gordon, get these people out of here."

"Yes, sir."

"No, wait a minute!" Wendy followed Eckhardt over to his car and explained to him, "This man and I were assaulted. You can't arrest him for doing something he didn't do. It's wasn't his fault. The man who attacked us is Mark Leto, he lives at-"

"Save it for the judge, lady", Eckhardt interrupted. "You want him back out, you post his bail. That's the way it works."

Wendy glared at Eckhardt with contempt and started to back away from him, pointing at him and proclaiming, "This isn't over. Do you hear me? This isn't over by a motherfucking long shot!" Turning away, Wendy singled for a taxi. The yellow cab came to a stop in the middle of the road. Wendy ran over to it and opened the back door and got in. "Take me to Axis Chemical", she demanded. "Now!"

Wendy didn't care if she got chewed out by her uncle or not, she needed to get Arthur out of the police station. He did nothing wrong and yet he was the one who got arrested, not Mark. Wendy vowed to kill him if she ever saw his face again. She didn't care if she went to prison for life. For Arthur, she was willing to do anything.

* * *

Wendy walked through the door and entered the factory, not caring about the smell of the chemicals. She looked around the factory floor, trying to find her uncle among the workers dressed in white lab coats. She looked to her left and saw a man standing next to a giant chemical tank. He wasn't in uniform. In fact, he was the man who was driving Jack around in the limo yesterday. He had a scruffy face and shoulder-length blonde hair. He was wearing a black fedora and dark gray suit. He had a scar on his left cheek. His named was Robert Hawkens, but to everybody who knew him, he was known as-

"Bob!" Wendy called out, walking over to him. "Bob! Where's Uncle Jack?"

"What the heck are you doing here?" Bob asked her. "You know your uncle don't want you hanging around here. It's dangerous."

Loosing patience, Wendy grabbed him by the lapel of his coat and slammed him against the wall. "I don't have time for your bullshit, Bob! Now where is Jack Napier?!"

"He's right here."

Wendy turned her head and looked over her shoulder. Jack was standing right behind her. There was another man standing next to him. He was a little bit older than him by about ten or fifteen years.

Wendy released Bob and went over to confront her uncle. "Do you have any idea what happened? I just got mugged by Mark! Arthur tried to defend me and got himself arrested. Either you get him out or I swear to God I will stick you. I don't care if I go to jail myself, I'll do it!"

"Relax, Wendy", said Jack. "If you want me to bail him out, all you have to do is ask me nicely."

_"Nicely?!_ You're one to talk! You don't know anything about being nice!" Wendy called him out.

"So, this is the famous Wendy", said the other man. "Your uncle's told me a lot about you."

Wendy looked at him and remarked, "Funny, he never mentioned you."

"I didn't think he would", said the other man, smiling politely. "My name is Carl Grissom." He offered his hand to her, but Wendy didn't take it.

Wendy stared at his hand and shot a look at the old man, raising a suspicious eyebrow. He looked like a crime lord. Therefore, she didn't trust him.

"I hear you're thinking about voting for Thomas Wayne", said Carl. "You'll be happy to hear we're both in the same running position for mayor."

"You're running against him?" Wendy questioned Carl.

"Yes, and I can assure you I only have the city's best interest at heart. If you would only reconsider-"

"Thank you, Mr. Grissom, but I've already made my decision", said Wendy, cutting him off. "Between you and L.W. Borg, I choose Thomas Wayne. I'm not an idiot."

Carl Grissom was not one to take no for an answer, but being that she was a woman, he decided to go easy on her. "You're choice, Miss Napier", he said.

Wendy turned to Jack and told him, "I know you don't want me around in your life, but all I'm asking from you is one little favor. Either you help me out or I swear to God I will gut you. Right here, right now."

Jack looked at her with a stoic expression, unmoved by her empty threat. She tried to act tough, but Jack knew she didn't have it in her. She was a mouse, not a lioness. It was that simple.

"If I help bail out your boy toy, will you shut up and get the hell out of here?"


	11. Chapter 11

Once they placed him into a holding cell, Arthur burst out into a laughing fit. Nobody was there to tell him to shut up or mock him because of his condition. For once, he was free to suffer the misfortune of his good deed. He helped Wendy and saved her from her ex-boyfriend again, but soon as he heard the fat cop tell him to halt, Arthur's angry demeanor changed and he suddenly became afraid. After he was handcuffed and placed into the back of the cop car, he didn't know what happened. His mind went blank.

While he sat there in his cell, Arthur had plenty of time to reflect on how his life was going. The isolation of a lonely existence, along with being bullied and ridiculed for his condition, had him wondering if all of this was really worth the trouble. He tried to be a good man and follow the rules of society, but like the social worker had told him before, nobody cared about him. Arthur had never been arrested before and he remembered hearing stories on television about how criminals were treated in prison, whether they were innocent or not. Luckily for him, Arthur had forgotten his gun back at the apartment. If the police found out he wasn't allowed to carry a concealed weapon because of his mental illness, it probably would have gotten him into even more trouble. More than anything, Arthur worried about his mother and what would happen to her if he never returned.

He also didn't like the thought of being confined in a tight space for very long. He wasn't claustrophobic, but something about being there made him feel like he was locked up in the mental hospital again. Arthur couldn't remember much from his stay at Arkham. He only remembered being locked up in a white room and constantly banging his head against a small window on the door. His memory, he had to admit, was very bad.

Two hours later, a sergeant named James, one of the cops who arrested him, came over to Arthur's cell and unlocked the door and said, "Arthur Fleck?"

"Hmm?" Arthur turned his head and looked at him.

"You're free to go, sir. You just made bail."

Arthur didn't see how it was possible for him to be getting out so soon. He stood up and walked out of his cell without question, following James out to the main lobby. The sergeant pointed and told Arthur, "She's over there."

He found Wendy pacing back and forth. She looked over at him and ran over to Arthur, throwing her arms around him and embracing him into a tight hug. "Arthur, thank God", she said, releasing him and looking him over. "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"Wendy, I'm all right", Arthur told her. "What's going on? How did you-"

"I posted your bail. I couldn't stand the thought of you being here over night. I straightened everything out and told the judge what happened. You don't have to go to court. "

"What did you do? I mean, how much did you-"

"Look, don't worry about it, okay? My uncle has powerful friends and he's got money. Not as much as Thomas Wayne, but let's not talk about that right now. Right now, I just want to get out of..."

Wendy trailed off a bit, seeing the fat cop that arrested Arthur coming out of his office and handing a case file over to a receptionist at her desk. He stole a donut from a pink pastry box and took a huge bite. He looked over and saw the auburn-haired woman stare at him with a hateful glare, her teeth bared into a twisted snarl. She wanted to kill him.

Wendy tried to ran over and lunge at the man who arrested Arthur, who grabbed her by her shoulders and held her back as she screamed to Eckhardt, "You son of a bitch, I'm gonna kill you!"

Eckhardt waved off her threat and turned around to walk back into his office.

"You fucking prick! I'm gonna tear your head off! You don't know who you're fucking with, you bastard!"

"Wendy, stop it!" Arthur told her. "He's not worth it."

Wendy tried in vain to pull herself away from Arthur, but it was no use. She was making a scene, but she didn't care. Something needed to be done about what happened to Arthur. She couldn't just let this go.

"Let me go!" Wendy protested, struggling to break free from Arthur's grip.

"No! I'm not letting you go until you calm down", said Arthur.

Wendy stopped fighting him and sighed deeply in frustration. "Okay, fine", she said. "I'll calm down."

"You promise?"

"Yes, I promise. Now let me go. Please."

Arthur waited a moment, making sure she would keep her word. He finally released her. Wendy turned to look at him, but Arthur had a feeling she might go into another rage again. He held an arm out in case she tried to repeat her anger, but all Wendy did was stare at him. There were tears in her eyes. Arthur reached his hand out to touch her face, but Wendy pulled away from him, shaking her head in disbelief.

Wendy turned around and walked away from him, running into the men's room. Placing her hands on the counter, she started crying, her head hung low in despair. She was deeply upset about what happened to Arthur, feeling that it was somehow all her fault. Arthur knew about her past with Mark and probably thought it was all a set up. He might never forgive her. She would never have come to Gotham if she knew it was this corrupt.

Arthur came into the bathroom and went over to Wendy, asking her, "Are you all right?"

"No, I'm not all right", Wendy told him, sniffling and putting a hand to her face to wipe away her tears. She didn't look at him.

Arthur tried placing a hand on her shoulder, feeling her tense up from his soft touch. Arthur pulled his hand away and asked, "Wendy, what's wrong?"

"Everything", Wendy cried, still refusing to look at him. "This is all my fault, Arthur. I never meant for this to happen."

"You didn't know", Arthur told her. "You didn't know Mark was going to show up. You were just as scared as I was."

Wendy let out a sob and tried to stay calm, her body shaking as she took a breath and said, "I'm so sorry, Arthur. I never wanted to hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me, Wendy. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Neither did you. That's the point." Wendy turned around to face him. Her face was red, her eyes turning pink and her nose running. "You didn't do anything wrong and yet _you_ were the one who got arrested, not Mark. First you lose your job and then you get thrown in jail by a corrupt cop? How can you not be angry right now? You act like you don't care you got arrested for no reason at all. You haven't done anything wrong."

"It won't do me any good to be angry, Wendy", said Arthur, softly. He tried to stay calm, knowing he could go into one of his hysterical laughing fits at anytime. That probably would have upset her even more.

Wendy sighed and lowered her gaze, telling him, "It's just not fair." Shaking her head, Wendy felt more tears begin to edge at the corner of her eyes. "I can't stand seeing bad things happening to people like that."

"It wasn't your fault", Arthur reassured her. "You didn't know Mark was going to show up. I saw how you were afraid of him. I was probably more worried about you than I was of myself."

Wendy stayed quiet for a long time, still refusing to lift her head up and look him in the eye. She finally told him, "I just don't want you to hate me."

Arthur's brow creased in confusion. "Why would I hate you?" He asked her. "I don't hate you, Wendy. If I did, would I be standing here talking to you right now?"

Wendy sniffled, wiping her cheek and answering softly, "No."

Arthur took a risk and slowly placed his hands on her upper arms. Wendy didn't flinch that time. "The world is a dark, cruel place", he reminded her. "We can't do anything about it. No matter how bad things gets, we just have to go through life and put on a happy face."

Wendy couldn't understanding how Arthur could be so positive about his situation. His optimism astounded her. He should have been angry. Maybe he was, but refused to show it in front of her. She felt like crying again.

Before she could turn away from him, Arthur tightened his grip on her shoulders and said, "Don't. Don't do that to yourself."

"Why not?" Wendy asked him, her voice sounding broken.

"I don't want you to shut me out, Wendy", said Arthur. "I want you to look at me."

Wendy shook her head, refusing to face him. "I can't", she whispered softly.

"Wendy, just look at me", Arthur begged her, softly. "Please?"

Wendy forced herself to look into Arthur's eyes, his face full of compassion, but once she did, Wendy inhaled sharply and threw her arms around his body, clawing her fingers on his back in a tight grip. He felt so thin.

Arthur carefully wrapped his arms around her and placed a hand on the back of her head, offering soothing, comforting words. "It's okay, Wendy. It's okay."

"No, Arthur, it's not okay. This is not okay." Wendy gasped and continued crying.

"Shh, don't say anything", Arthur whispered softly in her ear. "Just calm down. I'm right here, I've got you. Just relax."

When Arthur pressed her to his chest and held her tight, Wendy let out a hard sob and cried into his shoulder. He rocked her gently, reminding himself of the morning after the night they first met and how he sang to her to cheer her up. Arthur was very protective of Wendy. He knew she meant him no real harm, but seeing her upset like that worried him. He didn't like seeing her cry and being so sad. It broke his heart.

After a couple of long minutes, Wendy finally started to calm down. Arthur released her and reached over and took out a paper towel from the dispenser and handed it to her to blow her nose. Wendy took it and blew her nose loudly. She sniffled and took a deep breath, trying to get better control of herself. Arthur put a hand to her face and wiped her tears and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. Wendy looked at him and let out a shaky breath, staring back into the gentle gaze of Arthur's soft green eyes.

"Listen to me", said Arthur, his voice warm and soft. "Everybody has a bad day. It's not the end of the world. I don't want you to be upset, Wendy. Everything's going to be all right now. Okay?"

Wendy nodded again, too choked-up to answer him back.

Arthur leaned forward again, this time to touch his forehead gently to hers. He felt the heat of her skin against his face. He could smell the salt from her tears. Wendy placed a hand on his wrist and sighed deeply.

"Maybe it's best if I took you home", said Arthur. He put his arm around her and told her, "Come on. Let's go."

* * *

Soon as he got back to the apartment, Arthur walked into the main lobby of the building and glanced over toward the mailbox, but decided not to check it. He would do it in the morning. He went over and stepped into the elevator. Before the doors closed, Arthur stopped it with his foot and looked to see if Sophie was coming. He didn't see her. He stepped back and pushed the button and let the elevator take him up where he needed to go.

Once he got into his apartment, Arthur locked the door and latched the chain and took off his coat. He walked into the living room and took out a cigarette from his pocket. He lit it and took a big drag. He blew out smoke, his nerves jittery from the scariness of today's action. He checked under the couch cushion and found his revolver in the exact same place where he left it. He picked up the gun and looked at it, cocking the deadly weapon.

"Happy?"

Arthur looked towards his mother's bedroom, forgetting that he wasn't alone in the apartment. "Yeah, Mom."

"Happy, where have you been? It's late."

"Sorry, Mom."

"Where is your head lately, Happy?"

"I don't know, Mom. Not here, I guess."

"Sometimes I worry about you, young man."

"Fine, whatever", Arthur mumbled under his breath. He sat down on the couch and placed the barrel under his chin, pulling the trigger. It clicked on empty. He imitated a gun explosion, pretending to blow his brains out.

Once he took care of his mother for the night, Arthur got into the shower and washed away the filth from his stay at the police station. Just the thought of being in there made him feel dirty.

After a long, hard day, Arthur walked out into the living room wearing no shirt, only his dark blue sweatpants. He sat down at the table and wrote in his journal: _"I wonder how many other innocent men have been put in jail for a crime they didn't commit. Do they seek revenge? Do they go out and kill those who have wronged them? Should I?"_

Dark hallucinogens and disturbed voices replayed over and over in his mind, overcasting the very image of the auburn-haired beauty who still thought about him, completely unaware of his crime.

* * *

On the other side of town, Wendy walked out of the bathroom and went back into her bedroom, drying her hair with a towel. She was naked, until she swapped her towel for a silk bathrobe lying on the bed and put it on. She went over to the vanity and sat down and picked up a hairbrush, brushing her flattened wet curls. She thought about Arthur and how she got so overwhelmed today. Wendy still felt like she had betrayed Arthur in some way, even though he told her she didn't. It seemed as though it didn't bother him that he got arrested. She expected him to go into a laughing fit, but wasn't sure whether he did or not while he was being held in temporary custody. She didn't bother to ask him. Arthur was more concerned for her than he was of himself, he told her. Was that his way of trying to tell her something? How could he be so calm about all this? Wendy wished she knew the answer.

Wendy didn't know what it was, but there was something about Arthur that practically made her fall in love with him the first time she ever saw him. Her heart felt warm every time she thought about him. He was kind and charming and always tried to make people laugh. Even though he was happy, Arthur still looked sad, but he never let it bother those around him. Much like her, he was a loner. They were from two different worlds, but they still cared about each other.

Wendy stood up and went to put something on for the night, but then looked over and caught sight of a couple dancing on TV. She stood there watching an old black and white movie, listening to the crooning voice of Fred Astaire serenading Ginger Rogers. They danced away from a crowded room and across a small bridge into a deserted ballroom.

Wendy looked down at her feet, stepping her left foot over her right and turning her body to the right to face an invisible man. Raising a hand onto his shoulder and taking hold of the other, Wendy led the way into a slow ballroom dance, the imaginary figure starting to take form as she handed over the dancing to him. The voice of Fred Astaire continued to play as the scenery changed in the background. All colored faded from reality, showing nothing but black and white. Wendy finally saw the man she was dancing with. It was Arthur. He was dressed from head to foot in a black tuxedo and white tie, his hair slicked back and a white flower on his lapel. Wendy was wearing a long, white feathery dress, her hair all done up like in a wedding magazine.

Arthur glided her across the dance floor, spinning her under the pale moonlight. The moment was enchanting, dreamlike and romantic. Wendy just wanted to live with him there forever.

"You dance so beautifully, Arthur", said Wendy.

"Not half as beautifully as you do, my dear", Arthur told her.

"Oh, surely you don't mean it."

"Oh, but I do. One kind word from a stranger can change a person in more ways than you can ever imagine. When I first met you, you were only a broken bird, but I mended your wings and taught you how to fly again."

Wendy chuckled and told him, "You have such a way with words, Arthur. You're so sweet and kind to me."

"I was going to say the same thing about you, Wendy. You're one of the most kind-hearted, respectable creatures I've ever known."

"I love you, Arthur. Kiss me."

"Say you'll marry me, Wendy. Let's get out of this miserable city and never come back."

"I will, Arthur. I will follow you anywhere, no matter what."

Arthur smiled and lifted her into a spin, sweeping Wendy off her feet and bring her back down again, twirling her around in a daze and spinning her away. Wendy spun back over to Arthur, who caught her in his arms and dipped her into a backbend. When he straightened her back up, Arthur looked at Wendy, who held her arms around his neck, never wanting to leave him. Just as she reached up to go in for a kiss, the color returned and the daydream faded back into reality. Arthur vanished. The fantasy ended. Wendy looked down at herself, seeing she was wrapped in nothing but a silk bathroom. The TV was on, still playing the Fred and Ginger movie.

Wendy sighed. It was only a fantasy, one that would never come true. Arthur probably didn't feel the same way about her the way he did about that black woman she saw talking to him today. She saw how he looked at her.

* * *

Once he was through writing in his journal for the night, Arthur rose up and went over to the couch. He stuck his journal between the cushions and sat and lied down on the couch, turning over onto his left side and resting his cheek on the pillow. He breathed through his nose, thinking about Wendy and the way she got all riled up today when she saw the fat bastard who arrested him. He didn't think she would get so mad about it. In a strange way, he found it attractive about her. For once, Arthur had met somebody who actually treated him like a human being. It was all he could think about. Even though he promised to see her again, Arthur still missed Wendy. He raised his head up a bit and grabbed the pillow behind him and held it close to his chest, using it as a replacement for the body of the woman he was in love with. Little did he know was that Wendy was thinking the same thing about him, as well. At the moment, she wished he was lying there in bed with her. She wanted him to kiss her again, not just on her forehead, but on her lips. The way he kissed her today only made her want him more. She wanted to feel his hands on her body, his skin against hers as they tried different things other than just a chaste kiss. Arthur and Wendy both drifted off to sleep that night, each one dreaming about each other.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning, Arthur woke up to the faint morning sunlight flooding into his apartment. He stretched and sat up and rubbed his eyes, moaning. He ran a hand through his hair and stood up and went into the kitchen to take two of his medications. There were only about five pills left in one of the bottles, none in the other. He made his mother some breakfast and then smoked a cigarette and watched the news for a bit. Nothing different.

Arthur took his time in the bathroom and gave himself a shave and combed back his hair and got dressed. He wore a white button up shirt with a maroon-colored vest and matching pants. He had his first gig tonight at Pogo's and he wanted to look his best.

In the meantime, Arthur gathered up a basket of laundry and went to take the load down to the laundry room. He took his journal with him to read while he waited for the clothes to wash and looked over some of his jokes. He wanted to make sure he got it right.

Once the dryer stopped, Arthur gathered up the laundry and started to head back to his apartment. Before he could reach the elevator, a black man in a postal delivery uniform carrying a brown package called out to him, "Excuse me."

Arthur turned and looked at the delivery man.

"Are you Arthur Fleck?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a package for you, sir. Sign here, please."

Arthur was confused, but he set the basket on the floor and took the clipboard from him and signed his name. He handed it back to the delivery man and exchanged it for the parcel and asked him, "What is it?"

The delivery man shrugged and answered, "I don't know. She just said to make sure you get it. You have a good day now, sir."

"You, too."

Once the delivery man was out of sight, Arthur took a closer look at the package, thinking at first that it was a mistake. Usually if there was any mail for him, it was always addressed to his mother. This time, it was addressed to him. There was no mistake. He found there was a note attached to it and looked at it and read it to himself. _I'm sorry about yesterday. I hope this gift makes up for it_, it read. Turning it over, Arthur found the name _Wendy Napier _on the back. There were two hearts next to it, along with her phone number.

* * *

He spotted her through the window of Grimaldi's Diner where she worked. Dressed in a sky blue waitress dress with a white apron, Wendy walked over to a young couple sitting at a table and took their order. Arthur watched her through the glass, wondering if she would mind him visiting her while she was working. Wendy wrote something down on her notepad and walked away. That was when Arthur decided to take a chance and went in the moment she went behind the counter. Pulling his hood down, he walked over and sat down on a stool at the counter. Wendy gave the order to the fry cook. When she came back out, she was surprised to see him.

"Excuse me, miss", said Arthur, addressing her as if he were a stranger. "Do you work here? I'd like to complain to the manager about your employee named Wendy."

Wendy smiled. "Hey, you found me", she said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine", said Arthur. "I was walking through town and thought I'd stop by to see you."

"Well, can I get you anything to start off with? Are you hungry?"

"No, thanks."

"How about a cup of coffee then?"

"Sure, that'd be nice."

"Coming right up."

Wendy turned and reached for a mug and set it in front of Arthur and poured some coffee into it.

Arthur stuck a hand into his pocket and tried to give her the money to pay for it, but Wendy placed a hand over his and told him, "Don't. It's on me."

Arthur returned a smile and stuffed the money back into his pocket.

Wendy dropped her smile a bit and told him, "I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday, Arthur."

"It's okay, Wendy. I'm over it. You're still coming to Pogo's tonight, aren't you?"

Wendy shrugged. "Only if you want me to."

"I do. You said you would."

They heard a bell ding. Wendy turned her head and looked at the fry cook, who set a plate of tuna melts on the counter and said, "Order for table two!"

Wendy looked at Arthur and told him, "I get off work in an hour. You'll still around for a while?"

Arthur nodded. "Sure."

Wendy went back to doing her job and walked over and took the order of a black mother and her young son. Arthur recognized them as the mother and child he saw on the bus last week. The boy looked over at him and Arthur gave him a faint smile. He turned away and glanced up at the television broadcasting the news about clown sightings in the city. He poured some sugar into his coffee, stirring it with a spoon as he listened to the news.

* * *

Later that evening, Arthur stood backstage at Pogo's Comedy Club, going over some of the jokes in his journal. There was a man on stage telling sex jokes. Arthur was next after him. He ran a hand through his slicked back hair, feeling nervous. It was his first stand up act and he wanted everything to go right.

Wendy came backstage and asked him, "You ready?"

"What?" Arthur turned and looked at her, forgetting she came with him to the comedy club. "I'm sorry. I was just going through my material before I go on."

Wendy straightened his vest and told him, "Arthur, there's no need to be nervous. You just go out there and give them the best performance you can give to them." Suddenly, Wendy caught the familiar fragrance of cedarwood and musk and smelled his shirt. She looked at Arthur and complimented, "You smell nice. Are you wearing cologne?"

"I might be. Some strange girl had it delivered to me this morning", Arthur joked teasingly.

Wendy raised her eyebrows at him and pretended to sound jealousy. "Really? Was it from a redhead, perhaps?"

"Yeah", said Arthur, giving her a slight nod of his head.

A sound technician came over and told Arthur he was up next. Then he tuned to Wendy and told her, "Miss, you're not supposed to be back here." He turned away and said, "Five minutes, people."

"Oh, God", Arthur exclaimed worriedly. He couldn't help being so nervous. He turned to Wendy and asked her, "How do I look?"

"You look fine, Arthur", Wendy answered. "And don't worry about anything. You're going to do great. Good luck."

Wendy walked down the hall and went out to take a set at a table somewhere in the middle of the room. Most everywhere was packed with people. It looked like a pretty good crowd. She couldn't wait to hear the kind of humor Arthur would dish out. She listened to the man up on stage, wishing he'd get off already. She didn't come here to listen to a bunch of old-fashioned comics. She only came to support Arthur and make sure he had a good time.

Once he was done, the man left and the club owner came out to introduce the next comedian. Right on cue, Arthur came out onto the stage. The crowd applauded him.

"Woo!" Wendy shouted enthusiastically. "Go get 'em, Arthur!"

Arthur looked around at the darkened crowd, unable to see their faces through the blinding spotlight. He took a deep breath and spoke into the microphone. "Hello", he whispered softly. A soft chuckle began to bubble in his throat and he started to laugh, his face turning red from embarrassment. He snorted down the oncoming laughing fit and tried to address the audience again. "Hello, it's good to be here..." The laughing only grew stronger.

Turning away, Arthur bent over and covered his mouth with his hand, trying to get it under control. Some people in the audience laughed, thinking it was part of his act.

_Oh, God. Please not know_, Wendy begged silently. She looked around at the unamused expressions on some of the audience's faces. Some were snickering, but most were already bored with him.

Arthur turned back to the audience, holding his arms around him to keep himself together, and said to the crowd, "I hated..." He put a hand to his throat and started laughing again, knowing this was not going to end well. He struggled for a moment and gagged on his own choke hold. The audience just stared at him, thinking he was a fool. He held his journal in front of him and continued on with the joke, still trying to stop himself from laughing.

"I hated school as a kid-" The microphone feedback echoed in his face, and Arthur broke out into a laughing fit, forcing himself to cover his mouth with his arms. His face strained as he tried to get his laughter under control. He bent over and put a hand to his throat, struggling to breath.

Wendy started to get up in case she had to run up there and pull him off the stage, but Arthur straightened up again and took a deep breath just as he was starting to gain control of himself again. She sat back down.

"I hated school as a kid", Arthur finally got out. "My mother would say, '_You should enjoy it. One day you'll have to work for a living._'...'No, I won't, Ma. I'm gonna be a comedian'..." He finished with a nervous laugh.

Wendy looked around at the audience and applauded briefly, but none of the other members of the crowd joined in with her.

"Thank you", said Arthur to his only fan. He opened his journal and turned a page, looking for another joke. "Okay. Here's-here's one. You know, I was thinking the other day, why are rich people so confused by the poor?"

While Arthur was telling his joke, Wendy caught wind of a woman saying, "Oh, my God. Can you believe the nerve of this guy?" Looking to her left, Wendy saw an older woman with blue eyes and blonde hair. She was wearing a black dress and holding a cigarette in her hand. There was a young, rugged-looking gentleman sitting next to her. He leaned over and whispered something in her ear, to which the woman started laughing.

Wendy didn't know what the gentleman had told the woman, but she didn't find it one bit funny. She looked at Arthur as he put an index finger to his chin and made a serious face while he made another joke about rich people. She tried to hear what he was saying, but was distracted by the rude couple sitting on her left. She glanced back over at them. The gentleman said something to the woman, making her laugh and snort at the same time. Wendy looked back and tried to focus on Arthur, but his voice fell deaf on her ears. She was starting to get mad at the rude couple for sharing in each other's own amusement and not Arthur's. This was suppose to be his night, and so far, nothing was going right. Nobody was laughing.

"And that's another thing", said Arthur. "What is the deal with old men and their wives? I mean they say they love them until death do us part, but I don't think they were-"

Ignoring the struggling comedian up on the stage, the rude blonde woman and her date conversed while Wendy glared at them, her nostrils flared. Her heart was pounding, her blood boiling with rage.

"When I was a little boy and told people I was going to be a comedian, everyone laughed at me. Well, no one's laughing now."

Pounding her fist on the table, Wendy stood up and screamed at the top of her lungs, "_**SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!**_"

Everybody turned in their seats and looked at her in shock, including Arthur, who saw that she was addressing the rude couple sitting next to her.

"_**WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW ABOUT COMEDY?!**_" Wendy questioned them. "**_THAT MAN UP THERE IS DOING THE BEST HE CAN TO MAKE YOU LAUGH AND YOU'RE IGNORING HIM! HE IS A THOUSAND _****_TIMES _****_MORE FUNNIER THAN EITHER ONE OF YOU WILL EVER BE! AND IF YOU DON'T KNOW OR APPRECIATE WHAT GOOD COMEDY IS, THEN WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO HOME AND FUCK YOURSELVES?!_**"

Wendy threw her chair out of the way, almost hitting the rude couple and running out of the club as quickly as she could. She couldn't stand being in there for one more minute. The room was silent. Arthur looked around at the stunned faces of the people in the audience, not understanding what just happened or how to address the situation.

Wendy stormed out the back door and went over and slammed her fist on the chain-link fence. She repeated the same action twice and grabbed the handle of a nearby garbage can and threw it against the building. Throwing her arms down, she lifted her head and screamed toward the sky in frustration. Dropping down on her knees, Wendy collapsed on the ground and sat there for a while, panting hard. She heard a dog barking somewhere. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them, keeping her arms wrapped around her legs. She let out a heavy sigh, feeling stupid. This was Arthur's one chance to bring joy and laughter to the world and she ruined it for him. She couldn't face going back into Pogo's. She came to be there for Arthur, but that rude couple made her so mad, she decided not to return.

Not more than five minutes later, the door opened and Arthur came out, putting on his jacket. "Hey, what happened back there?"

Wendy looked up at him in shock, thinking he was going to lash out at her and tell her off for ruining his night.

Arthur saw the fear in her eyes and looked over and noticed the overturned garbage can. He looked at Wendy again and asked her with concern, "Were you mugged?"

Wendy stood up at once and told him, "Arthur, I can explain. I was trying to watch you on stage and listen to your jokes, but there was a couple sitting next to me and they were ignoring you and they started making comments about you and mocking your act. I got angry at them and lost my temper. I know I shouldn't have, but I-"

"Hey", said Arthur, placing his hands on her arms. Wendy froze and her eyes went wide. Arthur saw her fear and said softly, "It's okay. You came here to see me. That's all I ever could have asked."

"You mean you're not mad at me?"

Arthur's brows furrowed in confusion. "Why would I be mad at you?"

Wendy looked away and shook her head. "I don't know", she said sadly. "I wanted to be there for you tonight, Arthur, but that woman made me so mad, I couldn't-"

Arthur cupped a gentle hand on her jaw and turned her worried gaze back to look at him. "You didn't do anything wrong, Wendy", he said reassuringly. "I screwed up tonight, too, remember?"

"Are you still allowed to come back?"

"I am, but you might not be."

Wendy nodded, letting him know that she understood. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you with my screaming back there."

"Well, you did scream pretty good", Arthur reminded her. "How's your throat?"

Wendy shrugged and told him, "It's a little sore, but I'll be all right."

Arthur reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes, taking one out. He looked at Wendy and asked her, "Do you mind if I smoke?"

Wendy shook her head and told him, "No, you go ahead."

Arthur placed the packet back into his pocket and pulled out a lighter and lit his cigarette, holding it between his index and middle finger while he inhaled. He blew out a vapor of smoke, tasting the nicotine on his tongue.

Wendy got a sudden idea and asked him, "Do you mind if I try that?"

Arthur looked at her with a raised eyebrow and asked her, "What?"

"Do you mind if I try smoking one of those?" Wendy asked him, indicting she wanted a cigarette. She knew it was a bad idea, but seeing how Arthur didn't really seem to mind it, she thought it couldn't hurt.

Arthur shrugged and offered her his cigarette. Wendy took it and looked at it momentarily, parting her lips as she brought it closer and inhaled slowly. She caught the taste of smoke and gagged instantly. She started coughing and put a fist to her mouth, choking on the foul-tasting vapors.

"Are you okay?" Arthur asked her, his eyes wide with concern.

Wendy coughed again and handed the cigarette back to Arthur, telling him, "Here, take it, take it!" She turned away and pounding on her chest, trying to catch her breath. "Ah! I don't see how you can like those damn things!"

"It wasn't easy for me at first either", Arthur admitted, taking a long drag. He tasted the lipstick she left behind on his cigarette and blew out again. "I started taking up smoking by the end of high school."

"Yeah, well-" Wendy coughed twice, placing a hand on her throat as she tried hard not to vomit. She turned back and looked at Arthur with slightly red eyes. "This is just me, but I think you should take up another habit."

Arthur was quiet and took another inhale and breathed out more smoke. He look downtrodden. He had just one chance of making it big and he blew it. Nobody understand his jokes and only a small handful really laughed, but it wasn't genuine. His dream was supposed to come dream tonight, but instead, it turned into a nightmare.

"I fucked up real bad tonight, didn't I?" Arthur asked sullenly.

"No, you didn't, Arthur", Wendy insisted. She crossed her arms and shook her head and looked up toward the sky. Then she admitted, "At least, I didn't think you did. Maybe those people just weren't ready for you yet."

Arthur finished smoking and disposed his cigarette by flicking on the ground. He noticed Wendy was staring into space for a long time and looked up with her and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"The sky", Wendy answered.

Arthur looked at her. "Why?"

Wendy shrugged. "I don't know. It's just something I used to do all the time when I was a kid. It helps me think, I guess."

Arthur gazed back up at the sky with her. They couldn't see any stars through all the smog, but the sky did have a certain uniqueness to it. "It's a nice night out tonight", Arthur commented, a small smile on his face.

Wendy nodded, still admiring the darkening sky. "Yeah, it is", she agreed.

"And I'm not doing anything else and neither are you."

Wendy looked at him and asked, "What are you saying?"

Arthur looked at her again, his smile dropping. "Well, I mean, you're not busy tonight, are you? I mean the night's still young and...Well, it's kinda hard for me to say it-"

"Arthur...are you asking me out on a date?"

Arthur felt butterflies in his stomach. He blushed a bright red and lowered his eyes, not sure what he was doing. He never asked a girl out before. He ran a hand through his hair and said, "I know, it's a stupid idea-"

"No, it's not", Wendy reassured him, taking hold of his hand and offering him a warm smile. "Arthur, I'd love to go out with you."

Arthur looked at her with wide eyes and asked, "You wouldn't mind being seen with me?"

"No. As a matter of fact, I'd love it. Do you want to talk a walk first?"

Arthur grinned and said, "Okay."

Wendy motioned her head toward the alley and told him, "Come on, let's get out of here."


	13. Chapter 13

For the rest of the evening, Arthur and Wendy enjoyed each other's company, feeling like they were the only two people in the world. Nobody paid them any attention and they didn't care. It was just them. Black garbage bags were illuminated by the bright neon signs on the buildings and stores, but Arthur and Wendy were only interested in each other. The street was packed with people, some in clowns masks and makeup. Wendy felt a little bit uneasy about it, but because she was with Arthur, she knew she would be safe. She knew he wasn't into this whole clown protest, even if he was a party clown. _Used to be_ a party clown.

While they walked, Arthur spotted a newsstand selling newspapers about the killer clown. The headlines screamed titles like, "_**Kill the Rich**_" and "_**Subway Vigilante**_" and "_**Killer Clown on the Loose**_".

Arthur studied the creepy clown drawing on the front of the newspaper and tried to mirror the same image by scrunching his nose and widening his mouth, making a scary face. He looked more like a vampire than a clown.

Wendy looked at the clown caricature and said uneasily, "Oh, yeah. That thing."

Arthur went back to his normal face and looked at her. "What?"

"It's scary, isn't it?" Wendy asked him. "Some people are saying whoever did this did it to start a political movement. Personally, I think whoever's done this needs some serious psychiatric help."

Arthur looked at the newspaper again, having a completely different opinion on the matter. He shrugged and said, "I don't know. I think the guy that did it is a hero."

Wendy turned her head and looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Well, it isn't everyday you hear about some rich douche bag getting axed off. I'll bet you ten dollars those rich assholes deserved it", Arthur remarked, sounding cocky all of a sudden.

Wendy looked at the clown drawing again, then looked at Arthur in disbelief and told him, "You can't be serious."

Arthur turned to her with a smug look on his face and asked, "What if I am?"

Wendy was surprised by Arthur's sudden change in behavior, like he switched into a whole different personality or something. "O-kaaay", she said with suspicion, thinking what he told her was creepy. She turned and walked away for a bit, leaving Arthur to stand alone by himself for a minute.

Arthur laughed in amusement about scaring her, looking away and slowly loosing his smile as he caught an unusual, but interesting sight passing him in front of his eyes. A yellow cab drove by and he saw a person sitting in the backseat wearing a clown mask. Spotting the long dark hair of the person wearing the mask, Arthur smiled with admiration, thinking of the person as the woman whose life he saved on the subway.

"Arthur!" The voice of Wendy called out to him.

Arthur snapped out of his thoughts and turned his head and looked to his left, seeing Wendy standing in front of a store window. She signaled with her hand for him to come over to her, so he did. Wendy turned her attention back to what she was staring at in the window as Arthur came over and stood next to her, seeing what it was she was looking at. There was a black and white movie playing on the television in the window, showing a man with a scarf wrapped around his mouth staring down at a sleeping woman. He looked sad and laid himself carefully over her lap, obviously crying. The woman woke up and started feeling for him as though she were blind.

Wendy looked at Arthur and asked him, "Have you seen this movie?"

Arthur shook his head and answered, "No."

"It's called _The Man Who Laughs_", Wendy explained, looking back at the screen. "It's about this man named Gwenplaine, who was disfigured when he was a young boy and forced to wear a permanent grin on his face. He rescues a blind baby girl and they both get taken in by a kind philosopher. The two of them grow up together and fall deeply in love, but Gwenplaine doesn't think he's good enough for the girl because of his deformity. See how sad he looks even when he's happy with her?"

Arthur and Wendy watched the scene play out, as Conrad Veidt sat up straight and allowed Mary Philbin to touch and feel his hair and face. He pulled down his scarf, revealing a grotesque smile, a grin he was forced to wear for the rest of his life. He brought Mary Philbin's hands to his mouth to show her his forever smile. The blind woman smiled softly, offering nothing but kind words of love and acceptance. She slipped her arms around his neck, and in return, Conrad Veidt embraced her tight and practically swept her off her feet, carrying her into the gypsy wagon. The movie went to commercial and showed a preview for the Murray Franklin Show.

"And now, the romance is over", said Wendy, sounding uninterested. She turned and said, "Let's go, Arthur."

"Wait a minute, I want to see this", Arthur insisted, keeping his eyes glued to the screen.

Wendy turned back and looked at Arthur, watching him smile at the talk show shaking the hand of a guest celebrity. She looked at the screen and scoffed, "Don't tell me you actually like this jerk."

Arthur looked at Wendy, confused. "You don't like Murray?"

Wendy turned her head and glared at Arthur and said in a cold voice, "I despise him."

Arthur chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, saying, "I thought everybody like Murray Franklin."

"Well, not me", Wendy told him, raising her voice a bit. She looked at the screen again and crossed her arms and said, "I hear some people are actually calling this guy the Red Skelton of our time. I can't stand this man."

Having enough of staring at the undesirable Murray Franklin, Wendy turned around and walked over to the edge of the sidewalk and signaled for a yellow cab. "Taxi!"

Arthur turned in time to see a taxi cab pull up next to the sidewalk. Wendy opened the back door and looked over at him. "Arthur, are you coming?"

Arthur walked over and Wendy got in, leaving the door open so he could get in with her. Soon as he was in and the door was closed, the driver asked them, "Where to?"

"Take us to 36th Street, please", said Wendy.

"You got it", said the driver.

"36th Street? That's Gotham Square", said Arthur. "Wendy, where are we going?"

Wendy looked at him with a smile on her face and told him, "You'll see."

The taxi drove through the city until it came to the destination of the passengers and pulled up to the sidewalk. Wendy and Arthur stepped out and the cab took off. They arrived at an old movie theater. There were a couple of movie posters on the front of the building, but Wendy already knew which picture they were going to see. There was only one comedy playing. If Arthur wanted to see comedy, she was going to make sure he saw a good one.

"What are we doing here?" Arthur asked her.

Wendy took hold of his hand and said, "Come on. I'm gonna show you what real comedy looks like." They walked up to the ticket booth and Wendy said to the man behind the window, "Two tickets for Charlie Chaplin, please."

Wendy gave him the money to pay for the tickets and the man in the ticket booth handed them over to her. He thanked her and said, "Enjoy the show."

Wendy took Arthur by the hand again, holding the tickets in her other one. They walked into the theater and Wendy took great pride in seeing the look of joy on Arthur's face, almost as if he had never been to a movie theater. Wendy handed the tickets to an usher and he gave them the directions for the room that was showing the movie they were about to see. They went down toward the end of the hall and into a dark room. It wasn't too much trouble for her and Arthur to find a good seat. There were only a few people in there. Wendy asked Arthur where he wanted to sit, wanting to make sure he got the best seat in the house. Arthur told her anywhere was fine. They chose to sit in the middle row. There was a fat man in the row in front of them, but they didn't mind. The lights dimmed and the movie started.

The movie opened at a charity hospital and followed a woman who tried to figure out what to do with her newborn baby. She couldn't afford to take care of him, so she decided to abandon him in the back of a car. _That's so sad_, Wendy thought. Arthur was thinking the same thing, but never mentioned it. Two thugs came by a second later and stole the car, not knowing that the baby was in the backseat. The two thugs heard the baby crying and pulled over to an alley and placed the baby next to a trash can and left him. Less than a minute later, Charlie Chaplin came waddling along, swinging around his signature cane and acting goofy as always. Somebody from a window dumped garbage over him. Arthur and Wendy laughed a bit at that. It was cruel, but they had to admit, it was pretty funny. He heard the baby crying and took pity on the abandoned child and decided to adopt him as his own.

Right in the middle of the movie, Wendy looked at Arthur, who kept his attention locked on the big screen. She leaned closer to him and rested her head on his right shoulder, placing her hand over his. Arthur never even noticed.

Soon as the movie was over, Arthur and Wendy rose out of their seats and walked out of the theater. They walked around for a little bit and talked about the movie they just saw.

"You love comedy a lot, don't you, Arthur?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah, I do", said Arthur. "Don't you?"

Wendy shrugged and confessed, "Well, it isn't exactly my cup of tea, but it's okay if it's done right. This movie was good, though. To tell you the truth, I've ever seen a Charlie Chaplin movie before."

Arthur stopped and turned to look at Wendy with wide eyes. "You're kidding."

Wendy stopped and looked at him. "No, I'm not kidding. I've seen a few Laurel and Hardy movies, but I don't think I've ever seen a Charlie Chaplin movie until today." Wendy placed a hand on her stomach and said, "I should have bought popcorn for us or something. My stomach's growling."

"Would you like to go get a coffee?" Arthur asked her. "I know a place that sells coffee and donuts not too far from here."

Wendy shrugged and told him, "Sure. Why not? The night's still young, even if the moon isn't."

Arthur laughed at her joke and Wendy laughed along with him. It was the first time he heard her genuine laugh. It wasn't fake, but a warm and pleasant one. A true, feminine laugh.

Arthur continued to laugh, but not in the way he normally would when going into an outburst. He turned his head right and looked over across the street, loosing his smile again upon seeing a sight that broke his heart. It was Sophie walking along with a black man who looked about the same age as her. They were both smiling and laughing, having a good time despite the clown sightings going on around Gotham City. They kissed each other. Arthur should have felt happy for her, but a flame of jealousy soon began to overrun his fevered brain and he immediately forgot he was on a date with Wendy.

Wendy stopped laughing and looked at Arthur, her smile fading a bit. "Hey, you okay?"

Arthur looked at Wendy and then turned back to look at Sophie, but she wasn't there anymore. Neither her nor the man she was with were anywhere near in sight. She must have disappeared into the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Wendy asked him.

"Nothing", said Arthur, shaking his head and forgetting about the young black woman. "I thought I saw somebody. Come on. Let's go."

Arthur escorted Wendy to the coffee shop down the block. He often hung out there on special occasions. They order two coffees and a cherry Danish for Wendy. Arthur didn't eat anything.

"Aren't you hungry?" Wendy asked him.

"Not really", said Arthur, sipping his coffee. "I don't really have much of an appetite."

"Well, I'm really happy you're having a good time tonight", said Wendy. "And you know something? I think this is probably the best time I've had since I got here."

"You mean that?"

"Of course I mean it. I mean, I know tonight was supposed to be your big night, but-"

"It was my own fault anyway", Arthur added. "If I hadn't gotten so nervous..." He looked to his left and stared out the window, muttering to himself, "Maybe I'm just a poor excuse of a comedian."

"Arthur, don't say that about yourself", Wendy told him. "You can be a great comedian if you just set your mind to it."

Arthur glanced in her direction and said, "Thanks for the encouragement, but I think I'm a lot better at being a clown than a comedian." He returned his gaze back to the outside world.

"Maybe we're all clowns, then. We just don't know it yet."

Arthur smiled softly.

Wendy looked into her coffee cup and placed a gentle hand over Arthur's and said, "I thought you were good tonight. I mean, yes, you flubbed a little bit, but it was those stupid people's fault for not understanding." She picked up her mug and said, "It's all part of the system, you know? Some people just don't know what's funny or not funny anymore." She brought the coffee mug to her lips and took a small sip, keeping her eyes focused on Arthur.

"They've had it coming for years", Arthur whispered.

Wendy set her mug down and asked him, "I beg your pardon?"

"The rich people who called people like you and me clowns", Arthur answered. He looked at Wendy again. "And not just them. The system, the bank, politicians. They're all a bunch of scumbags."

"Not all of them", said Wendy. "Take Thomas Wayne for example. I know not everybody likes him, but if people don't like him, they don't have to like him. He may be ignorant, but he gets the job done."

Arthur lowered his eyes for a minute and bit down on the corner of his lip. He blinked and looked at her again. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're starting to sound just like my mother."

"Why should that offend me?" Wendy asked him, taking a bite of her Danish.

"She sort of has an infatuation with Thomas Wayne. She used to work for him, you know."

Wendy wiped away the crumbs on her mouth with the back of her hand and asked him through a mouthful of pastry, "Really? What did she do?"

"She was a housekeeper", Arthur answered. "She worked for the Waynes a little while before I was born. I never knew them, though."

Wendy swallowed her food down with a drink of coffee and blinked, drawing her eyebrows together as she set her mug down and asked him, "How come?"

"I don't know", Arthur admitted, not really knowing why himself. "I think she just wanted to take some time off so she could raise me. For some reason, she never went back to work for them. She had enough money to support me and her for a couple of years, but then one day, she suffered a nervous breakdown or something and was locked up for several years in a mental hospital."

Wendy placed a hand on her heart and said, "Oh, God, I'm so sorry."

Arthur blinked and lowered his gaze again and fixed it on a napkin in front of him. He folded it into a triangle and said, "I don't really remember much about my early years. I feel like I hardly ever saw my mother. I was locked up in the hospital for a while myself, but I don't remember why."

"How could you remember being locked up in a mental hospital and not remember what you were there for?" Wendy questioned him.

"Who knows?" Arthur sighed.

"Well, what about your father? Is he still around?"

Arthur was silent for a minute. He looked at Wendy again and his eyes grew dark and intense, as if to say how dare she bring up such a sensitive question. It almost looked like he was possessed by a demon for a second, like another personality had taken over him again.

Wendy could tell she struck a nerve with him and said timidly, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry-"

"No, it's just...No one's ever asked me about it before. I tried asking my mother about it once, but she went hysterical and told me to never bring it up again."

"He must've done something pretty bad to make her not want to talk about it", Wendy added. "You don't remember him?"

"Well, that's the problem", said Arthur. "I've never really had a father...To tell you the truth, I never knew my father."

Wendy looked away from Arthur, feeling bad that he never had a positive male role model to look up to while growing up. It was sad, she thought, because a boy needed a father. Arthur never had one. "I'm sorry", she said.

"Well, actually...", said Arthur, his face frozen in thought about his past, wondering about it. "...now that you mention it, I don't even remember having much of a childhood to begin with..." His voice trailed off. He had a risky idea, one that he would probably regret later, but it might help give Wendy an insight on his background. Maybe she could help him decipher the meaning. He felt much safer talking about it with her better than he did to a therapist.

Arthur turned in his seat and took out his journal from inside his jacket and began looking through the pages until he found what he was looking for. He turned it upside down and handed his journal over to Wendy. "I wrote this down about two months ago", he said. "You can read the top part if you want, just don't read anything else."

Wendy looked at the top of the page and read it out loud to him. "_'Last night I had a dream there was this man. I was in the dream to, only I was a small boy. This man said that he was my father and then for now reason at all __he gave me this little toy car. I wanted to ask him a question but then I woke up.'_"

Wendy blinked and looked at Arthur with an emotion he couldn't quite understand. Was it sadness? Maybe even confusion or concern? Sympathy? Wendy closed the journal and handed it back to Arthur.

Wendy pushed her half-eaten pastry aside and folded her arms on the table and asked him, "What does it feel like?"

"What do you mean?"

"When you go into a laughing fit, what does it feel like? Does it hurt you? I see you struggle with it every time it happens. You look like you want to cry because of it."

"I want to cry, but I don't think I can", Arthur explained. "I don't like it when my laughter takes over, but I can't do anything about it. I just have to let it pass."

"So, what does it feel like?"

"It's like choking on broken glass. Every time it happens, my insides hurt and I feel like I can't breathe. My stomach spasms and twists itself into a knot. When it's over, I feel fine, but I still feel vulnerable."

"Do you feel embarrassed by it?" Wendy asked him. She caught herself before he could answer her and shook her head, telling him, "No, don't...don't answer that. That was a stupid question."

"That's all right", Arthur told her.

Wendy went to take another sip of coffee and asked him, "Don't they have medicine or something that can help you control it?"

"Actually, I'm on seven different medications", Arthur blurted out.

Wendy nearly choked on her coffee and set her mug down, wiping her mouth and looking at Arthur. "Seven? You're on seven different medications and none of them work?"

"One of them is for depression, another one helps me to sleep at night. Everything else is just for mental problems."

"How old were you when you first discovered you had your condition?"

Arthur sighed. "I don't know. I want to say I was 17, maybe 18. My mother told me I've had it since I was a little boy."

Wendy placed her hand over Arthur's again, gripping it in a comforting way and saying to him, "I'm just sorry you never had a father, Arthur."

"Don't be", said Arthur. "I still have my mother. For as long as I can remember, it's always been me and her. She told me that when I was born, God gave me a purpose in life: to bring joy and laughter to the world."

There was something adorable and innocent, yet still tragic, about the way Arthur thought about the world. No matter how horrible it was, he always kept a positive attitude about him. Arthur lived in a world of his own, but he knew never to share it with anybody, not even his own mother. In his own world, nobody could hurt him. He barely remembered his own childhood and he had no memory of ever having a father, but despite his upbringing, he was raised from birth to always be a good individual and be kind to others, never letting it get him down. In a way, Arthur was very much like a child. He sometimes felt like a child trapped in the body of a grown-up.

"You remember that day we met each other outside of Ha-Ha's", Wendy asked him, "and you asked me who I thought you were? I think I've finally figured it out."

"Who am I, Wendy?" Arthur asked her, his curiosity sparked.

"The way I see it, you're a man who laughs to hide the pain, but has never been happy one day in his entire life", Wendy answered. "I know you say you're okay and that you only want to make people happy, but I can still see that you're hurting inside. I don't want you to be hurt, Arthur. I want to help you. More than anything, I want to help you and take care of you in anyway I can. If you ever need to talk to anybody, I'm here for you. I'm your friend."

The thin line of Arthur's mouth slowly grew into a thankful smile. "I think that's the nicest thing anybody's ever said to me."

Wendy smiled at him, happy that she was able to bring some light into his miserable life for once. If only he knew about her true feelings for him. She wanted to tell him, but not tonight.

Arthur stood up and told her, "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

"Okay."

He left her alone, giving Wendy a perfect opportunity to sneak a peek at what other thoughts he had written down in his journal. She knew it was wrong to invade Arthur's privacy, but her curiosity for him got the better of her and she wanted to know more about him. Wendy reached over for the weathered, old journal, hoping to get a better look at his material. She opened the first page and her brows furrowed together when she looked at the handwriting. His spelling was atrocious, the writing style sloppy and hard to read at times. It was like looking at a child's handwriting. She turned a page and found there was also some crudely-drawn scribbles, as well.

Wendy continued to flip through the pages and her eyebrows raised up at one point in surprise when she found a porn clipping cut out from a magazine. She couldn't help but blush. Apparently, he was something of a deviant. She didn't read anything important, but then Wendy came upon a sentence that was very sad, something Arthur wrote about a drunk man who was found dead on the sidewalk. She could barely make out his writing, but it read:

"_Can you imgine that? Dead on the sidewalk with peeple steppin over you. Maybe hes happyer, but I don't want to die with peepl just steppin over me. I want people to see me._

_Imgine yur hole life ends on a sidewalk. I wunder how old he was and for how long noone cared about him._"

Wendy felt the pain of Arthur's words flow out from his journal entry. He really did want to bring joy to the world and make people laugh, but nobody noticed him. Nobody except her. The world didn't deserve people like Arthur if they didn't treat him nice. All he wanted was to be loved and be an equal, just like everybody else. To Wendy, he was normal, no matter who he was. Wendy loved Arthur Fleck for being just what she saw him as: a good guy.


	14. Chapter 14

Wendy came home later that night, humming to herself as she took off her coat and hung it up. She walked into the living room and found her Uncle Jack sitting on the couch. He was reading the newspaper, holding a dry martini in one hand. Wendy walked over to the mirror and fixed her hair, still humming the same tune she heard on the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie the other night.

"How was the date?" Jack asked her, not looking away from his newspaper.

"Well, it wasn't supposed to be a date, but...", Wendy turned around and leaned her back against the wall, a starry-eyed look on her face. She sighed dreamily and proclaimed, "Arthur Fleck is the most wonderful man in the world."

"That's great, I'm happy for ya", said Jack in an uninterested tone. He drank from his martini glass and set it down on the coffee table. He turned a page and asked her, "What about the other guy?"

Wendy blinked, frowning and looking over in his direction. She walked over to her uncle and asked him, "What other guy?"

"The one that beat the crap out of you? You didn't see him tonight?"

"No, why would I?" Wendy questioned him. "Unless he was one of the clowns we sighted out there, I didn't see him. He's history, anyway. I'm with Arthur now, and he's the best thing that ever happened to me."

"You still talkin' about that boy from downtown you asked me to help bail out?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"The one with the scar on his face?"

Wendy blinked again, her brows furrowing together in confusion. "Scar? What scar?"

"I saw his face, Wendy. The man has a scar over his upper lip. Either he was born with it or somebody fucked him up when he was a kid."

Wendy rolled her eyes in annoyance and scoffed, "Uncle Jack, it's a birthmark, not a scar. And what does Arthur's looks have to do with anything?"

Jack lowered the newspaper into his lap and turned his head to his left, giving her a smirk and trying not to loose patience with his talkative, lovesick niece. "Well, I'm just intrigued with your little fuck buddy, that's all."

"Uncle Jack!" Wendy exclaimed, sounding shocked and offended.

"Don't give me that, you brought this onto yourself. I don't know what it is about you women, but you have the tendency to pick out the ugliest-looking guys you can find out there."

"Uncle Jack, you're despicable! You're treating me like I'm some kind of a child, like I can't make my own decisions. I'm a grown-up woman of twenty-seven, I expect you treat me like one."

"Well, maybe you don't realize the kind of pressure I'm under. If I didn't have to sit here listening to you rambling about a guy, I'd be out there running the show and trying to get better control of the city, and you'd be out there trying to survive on your own without a penny to your name. Now why don't you get out of my face and go do your job, toots?"

"The diner's closed for the night, moron. I'm going to bed."

Wendy turned and was about ready to walk away, but then heard her uncle saying, "Who gave you permission to leave the room?"

Wendy stopped and turned back and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Jack made a 'come hither' gesture with his index finger. Wendy wasn't too sure about that, but went back over to him, knowing that he was up to no good again.

"Answer me this, kid", said Jack. "Has Arthur asked about me?"

"Not lately, but I don't tell him anything he shouldn't know."

"Does he ever question you about me?"

Wendy shook her head. "No."

"That's good", said Jack. "Because I'm sure you've taken a hint by now about what I do for a living. Which is why I want you to listen real careful to what I'm about to say."

"Before you do", said Wendy, cutting him off. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" She was sick and tired of his verbal abuse and wanted to tell him off. "I mean, no offense, but you doesn't exactly seem like the type of guy who works in a chemical plant. You wear a nice suit and work in a place that produces poison. Don't you consider that dangerous, with all the toxics and fumes and shit? Just what exactly is it that you do, Uncle Jack, huh?"

Somewhere during the middle of her questioning, Jack lost his smirk and looked at her with calm, deliberate stoicism. "I wouldn't worry your pretty little head over that, kid. I told you once before I didn't want you hanging around there. The chemicals in that place will mess you up, but not as bad as the stuff I could do to you."

"What do you mean?" Wendy asked him suspiciously, not liking the way he said that.

Jack removed the newspaper off his lap, revealing that he was holding a .38 automatic in his left hand, pointing it directly at her stomach. One pull of the trigger and she would be dead, or maybe even paralyzed.

Wendy gasped in shock and lost all confidence, her eyes widening in fear.

"Don't move", Jack warned her, pushing the barrel closer to her abdomen. Wendy obeyed him, not daring to move a muscle. This wasn't the loving uncle like she thought he would be, this was a lunatic. A madman. "I warned you about poking your nose into business where it doesn't belong and asking questions about me. While you're here, you don't ask shit about my personal or private life. I haven't forget what you did back there at Axis, making me look weak in front of Grissom. This is the second time you've overstepped your boundaries, woman. And if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I'll blow your brains right out of your goddamn skull and dump your body into the Gotham East River. Now, do I make myself clear?"

Wendy breathed unevenly, swallowing and whispering in a small, frightened voice, "I already knew that you were a gangster, but nobody else has to know...I won't tell anybody, I swear...Uncle Jack, just...please..."

"Please what?" Jack asked her, menacingly. "You think I would hurt you, Wendy? I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want to give you a warning. One more stunt like that again and you're fucked. Do you get the picture?"

Wendy didn't say anything, but nodded her head in vigorous agreement. Her body trembled.

An evil smile appeared on Jack's face. He lowered his weapon and said, "Good girl. Now before you go to bed, I want you to do your Uncle Jack a favor. I want you to move your pretty little ass over there and fetch me a glass of ice and some bourbon. You think you can do that, Wendy? You're not too busy tonight, are you?"

Wendy shook her head and answered timidly, "No, Uncle Jack." She turned and went over, putting some ice into a glass and pouring some bourbon into it with a shaky hand. She went back over and handed Jack his drink.

"Thanks, kitten. Now get the hell out of my sight."

Wendy nodded and slowly backed away from him until her back came in contact with the door. She felt for the handle and opened the door from behind and went into her room, shutting the door and locking it. She turned and leaned her back against the door, breathing heavily. She closed her eyes and felt tears leak out from underneath her eyelids, taking a sharp inhale of breath and placing a hand over her mouth. She felt like crying, but choked down on the sobs begging to be released from her body. She took a deep breath and calmed down a bit and opened her eyes, tilting her head back and putting a hand over her beating heart. She tried to take her mind off of her fear of her uncle and thought about Arthur, wishing that she was still with him. She wished she never came home.

* * *

Arthur had a wonderful time with Wendy on their date tonight. He wasn't expecting anything outside of her coming to see him at the comedy club, but after he messed up his act, Wendy decided to make it up to him. They walked around and talked and went to a movie and had coffee together. It wasn't much, but it was the most fun he had in a long time. It was the perfect evening, even if it didn't exactly go according to his plan. For once in his life, Arthur had a good day. There was only one thing left to do to make it a perfect day.

Arthur walked into his apartment and locked the door, taking his coat off and hanging it up. He went into the living room and tossed his journal on the coffee table. His mother was sleeping in her chair. The TV was on. Murray Franklin was closing the show for the night. _Ah, I missed it_, Arthur thought to himself. He brushed it off, however, and enjoyed the last few seconds of the program, just in time to hear the closing line.

"_Good night, folks, and always remember: that's life._"

"That's life", Arthur mimicked quietly. He moved to the jazzy music for a bit and turned his attention over to his mother, waking her up and helping her to her feet. "Come on, Mom. Time to go to bed."

His mother murmured something and allowed Arthur to dance around with her for a while. He held her close, slowly leading her into a turn.

"I wrote a new letter to Thomas Wayne."

"Come on, Momma. Dance with me."

The end credits music played an instrumental version of Frank Sinatra's _That Life_ as Arthur continued to dance with his mother. His mother laughed a bit, which made Arthur smile. He hummed to himself, feeling very much alive and in love. He didn't feel quite so depressed anymore. After a long week of bad misfortune and constant depression, he was actually enjoying himself for once.

"You smell like cologne", his mother noticed.

"Well, Mom, it's because I've just been on a date", said Arthur. His mother reminded him to deliver the letter and told him she was going to bed.

Arthur stopped dancing and continued to think about the wonderful time he had with Wendy. He thought about asking her out again, but needed some time to think about it. Right now, he focused his attention on the letter.

Arthur went over and turned off the TV and sat down in his mother's chair, eying the letter she had written to Thomas Wayne. She had been writing to him for years and never once did Arthur think to look at any of them. He picked up the envelope and opened it carefully to see what it said. He read it to himself. "_Dear Thomas, there is a definite possibility that I will die soon..._" His heart skipped a beat, fearing that his mother would not be here for very much longer. He knew she was sick, but not like this. He kept on reading. "_I've sent you dozens of letters...I know how much pain and suffering our love caused...__I understand that this might lead me to ridicule, but your son __and I need your help._"

Arthur stayed locked on those two words for a long while. _Your son?_ How could this be so? All his life he never had a father, and now he was just hearing about the fact that he was possibly related to the most famous man in Gotham City? He stopped reading the letter at that point, wanting to crumble it up, tear it apart, do something. He was shocked upon discovering this tiny bit of information, but he was mostly angry. He should have felt happy about it, but that wasn't the case. If his mother knew all along who his father was, then why didn't she say anything? Arthur wanted to curse her out so badly right now. He hated her for keeping it a secret from him.

"Happy", his mother called out, walking back into the living room. "Happy, I just wanted to..." She became concerned upon seeing him with his head down like that, like he was sad. "Happy? What's wrong?"

Arthur slowly looked up at his mother, but there was neither sadness nor love to be found in his eyes. Only hatred.

His mother looked at him with confusion, noticing the paper in his hand. "Is that my letter?" She asked him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Arthur questioned her furiously, his voice dangerously low.

"What are you doing with my letter?" His mother questioned him.

Arthur said nothing and just sat there, glaring back at the woman who raised him. He rose up from the chair and went over to confront his mother and asked, "Why didn't you say anything, Mom?"

His mother lowered her gaze, turning her head and looking away as though she were in a trance, her head in the clouds.

Loosing patience, Arthur grabbed his mother by her forearms and shook her violently, screaming at the top of his lungs, "_**TELL ME THE TRUTH! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!**_"

Turning away, Arthur's mother somehow managed to pull herself out of his tight grip and walked fast to her bedroom. Arthur followed after her, saying, "Mom, come back here!"

"You could have killed me", his mother told him, shutting the door and locking herself in. "You're gonna give me a heart attack!"

Arthur started pounding on the door and screamed at her, "_**DON'T GIVE ME THAT BULLSHIT, MOM! COME OUT OF THERE, RIGHT NOW!**_"

"No!" Arthur's mother protested. "I'm not talking to you until you stop being angry!"

Arthur turned around and walked away for a minute, taking a deep breath and saying, "Okay." He heard the tenant upstairs pounding on the ceiling and telling him to shut the fuck up. Arthur turned back again and said calmly, "Okay." He walked back over to his mother's bedroom and placed his hand gently on the door, touching his forehead to it, as well.

"I'm not angry, Mom", said Arthur, softly. "I'm not angry. Please, Mom?"

A moment of silence passed between them. As Arthur tried to make sense of the fact that he was possibly Thomas Wayne's son, his mother took her time in trying to find the right way to reveal to him her side of the story.

"He's an extraordinary man, Happy", his mother said at last. "And very powerful...And we were in love...And...I could never tell anybody, because...Well, I...I signed some papers...Besides, you can imagine what people would say about Thomas and me...What they say about you."

"What would they say, Mom?" Arthur asked her, softly. He didn't care how much it hurt. He only wanted to hear the truth. "What would they say?"

"That...That I was a whore...and you were just an unwanted bastard", his mother answered.

Those words stabbed Arthur like a knife to the heart. It made it even worse when he heard his mother crying behind the door. He winced, feeling as though an invisible blade were twisting itself inside him. He didn't mean to make her so upset. He was confused about everything, including his love life. That was all that was said between them the rest of the night.


	15. Chapter 15

The next day, Arthur told his mother he was going out for a while. She still wasn't talking to him, so he figured he'd give her some more time. He put on his coat and went out and walked down to the bus stop. He smoked a cigarette while he waited. He had a million thoughts going through his head, mostly about Thomas Wayne. If what his mother said was true, then maybe Arthur could convince him that they needed help. He owed it to them, not just to the city. Though he still had his doubts, Arthur hoped that it was all true and not just a fantasy.

A man in a business suit came walking by, reading a newspaper. He shook his head as he folded it up and threw it into the trashcan next to the bench where Arthur was standing. The man kept on going, not paying attention to Arthur, who took one last inhale and disposed his cigarette before grabbing the newspaper out of the trashcan. He just started reading the headline when the bus pulled up. Arthur got on the bus and sat down in a seat. There were a lot of people reading the same paper as him. The bus drove far out from Gotham City, everybody keeping to themselves as the tried to make sense of the current situation. Most were reading the paper with thought of just how ridiculous the whole clown idea was, some had a more positive view on the subject. Arthur read the article inside about Thomas Wayne's run for mayor and saw a photograph of the Wayne family.

Arthur didn't see much resemblance between himself and the famous billionaire based on just a grainy photograph from a newspaper. He would have to get a good look at Thomas Wayne in person. He remembered his mother told him that Wayne Manor was somewhere far out in the countryside, way out past the city limit. He carefully tore the black and white picture out of the newspaper and stuck it into his journal, holding it close to his chest like a security blanket. He looked out the window, watching the city disappear and soon turn into wide open spaces and green trees. Not a single garbage bag in sight. Fresh air and golden sunlight filled the sky.

* * *

Wendy was leaning against the taxi cab parked on the corner, looking across the street and wondering where Arthur was at the moment. Travis was leaning against the taxi cab with her, wearing his green Army jacket over his plaid western shirt and rider jeans. He was drinking from a bottle of liquor wrapped in a brown paper bag. He offered a drink to Wendy, who accepted and took a sip. It was peach brandy, a particular favorite of Travis'.

"Don't you have a café to go work at or something?" Travis asked her.

"Not today", Wendy answered. "Today's my day off."

"Is this what you always do with your spare time?" Travis teased innocently. "You spend your day off stalking a guy?"

Feeling awkward, Wendy looked at him and asked nervously, "Do you think I'm weird for doing this?"

A warm smile appeared on Travis' face. He shook his head and told her, "Nah, I had the same problem you did once. So, are you and Arthur getting real serious?"

Wendy took another drink of Travis' brandy before answering. "I wish it were so. He seemed kind of distracted last night."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. He kept staring off into the distance and saying weird shit about those subway tycoons. I'm telling you, Travis, it just wasn't like him last night."

Wendy took a third swallow of peach brandy, forcing Travis to take the bottle away from her before she could finish all his booze. "You wanna slow down before you make yourself sick?" He asked her, taking a drink for himself.

Wendy looked at Travis, staring at his face. She never noticed just how handsome he was. He was good-looking and probably had a muscular-toned body on him, but she could tell he was lonely and distant. He had a cute little mole on his right cheek. His dark brown eyes matched the color of his short, slightly untidy hair. He rarely smiled, but when he did, it was like he swallowed a part of the sun, a faint glow bursting out from his cheeks. His face was gaunt like Arthur's, he even shared the same dark circles under his eyes. They could have very easily been brothers.

"You look tired, Travis", Wendy noted.

"I can't sleep at night", said Travis. "I work twelve hour night shifts from sundown to sunup, six in the afternoon to six in the morning, sometimes eight in the morning."

"How do you sleep?"

"I take a couple of sleeping pills to help me with that."

Wendy blinked and looked over across the street, staring off and saying, "Did you know Arthur takes seven different medications?"

"Seriously, what do you see in that guy, anyway?" Travis asked her.

"He's a good man, Travis", Wendy answered. "He's tragic and mysterious, a little childish at times, but still mature enough to take care of himself and look out for the best of others."

Travis stared at the auburn-haired woman, thinking she was being idealistic about a guy she barely knew anything about. Although she was in love, Travis could tell she was miserable and wondered if Arthur had something to do with that. Travis thought he could very easily be the hero to her damsel in distress, but Wendy didn't see him like that. She already chose Arthur to be her knight in shining armor and saw Travis as more of a friend.

Wendy turned to the taxi driver and asked him, "What about you, Travis? Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No, not really", Travis admitted. "I tried dating a girl once, but it didn't work out."

Wendy looked away from him again. "Oh. Sorry."

"No, it was my fault. I shouldn't have taken her to a porn movie. It was a stupid-"

Wendy looked at him again, surprised to hear him say that. "Porn movie? You took a girl to a porn movie?"

"I thought she wouldn't mind, you know", said Travis. "I didn't know that was how she felt about those kind of movies. I barely knew anything about her except that she was working as a volunteer for Senator Palantine."

Wendy nodded. "I've heard of him."

"Yeah, well, the guy was a dick."

Travis placed his right hand on the hood of the cab, feeling a slender, gentler hand beneath his warm palm. He looked to his right and looked at Wendy, who shared the same expression as him. Travis looked down at their touching hands and pulled his away immediately, looking the other way. He didn't mean to come on so strong. If she wasn't so lovesick about Arthur, Travis would have asked her by now if she would be interested in him.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Travis."

Wendy looked to her right and ran a hand down the left side of her coat, tucking it into her pocket. She felt something in it and looked down and pulled out the switchblade. She kept forgetting she had it on her. It was meant to be a gift and a safety precaution from her uncle, but after their ordeal with the gun last night, Wendy didn't know who the weapon was from anymore. She should have known her uncle was part of the criminal underworld. Practically everything about him screamed bad guy. Wendy pressed the button, flicking the blade open. Her eyes turned dark in the reflection of the blade, feeling a small taste of power while holding the weapon.

Travis looked at her and asked, "Hey, you okay?"

Snapping out of it, Wendy looked at Travis and blurted out, "I think my uncle is a psycho. He's a complete narcissist and acts like a total nut. The first time I met him, I told him my mother died and he barely batted an eye. And that was his sister, for crying out loud. Every since I arrived in Gotham, I've been trying to get to know him, but he doesn't want to talk about anything. I'm not supposed to say anything, but he's a criminal. Even if I had enough evidence to convict him, it still wouldn't do me any good to go to the police because he's paying them off. He doesn't care about me, he only cares about himself. I don't know what exactly he's done, but it can't be good."

Travis stared at her with a blank face and asked her, "If you don't like living with him, why don't you leave?"

"I've only got so much money saved up and I don't have anywhere else to go at the moment", Wendy answered.

"Yeah, but you can't live in fear like that. It's a hell. A nice, young girl like you should live in a house surrounded by a white fence."

"Yeah, and what am I supposed to do after that? Ask Arthur to marry me and have three kids together?" Wendy shook her head and looked forward again, a faint smile on her face. "That would be something, wouldn't it?"

Travis didn't know how to respond to that. He bit his tongue and remained silent, taking another drink of peach brandy. He would have gladly offered to help Wendy out with her situation, but she probably wouldn't accept it.

Wendy folded up her switchblade and stuck it back into her coat pocket. She turned her head left and decided to change the subject, continuing her talk with Travis. "So, where are you from?"

"I was born and raised in the Midwest", Travis answered.

"Kansas?"

"Eh, close enough. Anyway, it's no big deal."

"Were you in Nam?" Wendy asked him.

Travis looked at her. "Huh?"

"I saw the patch on your jacket. Were you in the war?"

"Yeah, I was in the Marines. I was all around the country, but then I got honorably discharged after I received a back injury in Viet Cong. I got the scar to prove it. They ever want me to go back, they'll have to shoot me first."

"I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories", said Wendy, politely.

"I know", said Travis, "but I still hate to think about going back there after what happened. After I got discharged, I went to New York and drove a cab for a couple of years. I can't complain, it makes good money."

Wendy shrugged. "Why did you leave?"

"I needed a change of scenery. Too much crime and bullshit in the city."

"It's the same thing here, isn't it? Almost everywhere has some sort of crime happening nowadays."

"Yeah, and most people who barely have a pocketful of money are just trying to survive."

Wendy nodded her head. "Yeah, I hear you. Decent people like you and me shouldn't live here. We'd be happier someplace else."

"The way this city's going to shit, I'd want to get out of it myself. If it isn't clown sightings one day, it's penguins in the sewers the next day."

Wendy blinked and looked at Travis, her brow creased in confusion. "Penguins in the sewer?"

Travis's mouth formed into a thin smile. He shook his head and told her, "You wouldn't get it."

"Whatever", said Wendy, chuckling and looking over across the street, spotting Arthur at a bus stop. He was smoking a cigarette while he waited and wasn't looking in her direction. "There he is."

Travis looked over to Arthur, his face devoid of expression, his gaze intense like cold, hard steel. He didn't hate Arthur, but he was very judgmental about him. There was something about him that rubbed him the wrong way.

A man in a business suit walked by and tossed a newspaper into the garbage can. Arthur reached in and took it out and looked at the headline just as the bus pulled up. They both watched him as he got on the bus.

Travis took another swallow of his brandy and opened the back door and told Wendy, "Get in."

Wendy walked over and got in. Travis shut the door for her and opened the driver's side door and slid himself into the driver's seat and started the engine. He headed on down the road, following the bus.

"Where's he going?" Wendy wondered.

Travis shrugged. "Maybe he's leaving."

"He has a sick mother, Travis. Arthur's not the kind of guy to just up and leave like that."

Travis glanced at the redhead in the rearview mirror, a crazed look in his eyes. His penetrating gaze was lost on Wendy, whose only interest was following Arthur out to wherever it was he was heading out to.

"Turn the meter on", said Wendy.

"What for? I'm off duty."

"I know you're off duty. Just turn it on."

Travis nodded and flipped the meter down, the motor running and the numbers rolling higher and higher with each mile.

* * *

Playing alone inside his playhouse, a young boy about eight-years-old was wearing a black cape and mask, pretending to play Zorro. His parents were taking him to see the new movie this weekend and he couldn't wait. While the boy imagined he was in a duel with a bandit, he looked over toward the brick wall surrounding his family's estate and spotted a strange man standing on the other side of it. At first, he was a little bit creeped out by seeing the strange man staring back at him, but then the man slowly lowered himself out of sight and popped his head up a second later, this time wearing a red clown nose. He started walking up toward the iron gate.

The boy got curious about the strange man and walked across the bridge of his playhouse, sliding down the pole. His feet touched the ground and he walked up toward the gate to get a better look at the man. Maybe he wasn't so dangerous after all. The boy took off his mask and stared up at the strange man, as he pulled out a magic wand from his sleeve and started dancing with it, humming a tune. The strange man pointed the wand at the boy, who did nothing and said nothing. He never even cracked a smile.

The strange man waved the wand above his head and pointed it at the lock on the iron gate, as though expecting it to open up for him. It didn't. The man looked at the wand in disappointment and placed a hand on his hip, wondering what he should do. He got an idea and passed the wand through the iron gate, handing it over to the boy. The wand became like a noodle in his hand, drooping and loosing its straight form. The man laughed. The boy shrugged and handed the wand back to him. Just like magic, the man made the wand as straight as before and tapped his head with it. He danced a little bit more and then turned to stick the wand up his sleeve. When he turned back to face the boy, the tip of the wand burst into an arrangement of colorful flowers. This actually made the boy smile and laugh a little bit, which was just the kind of reaction the man wanted to see.

Handing the wand over to the boy as a present, the man knelt down to the boy's eye level. "Hi", he spoke softly, taking off his red clown nose. "My name's Arthur. What's your name?"

"I'm Bruce", the boy answered him.

"Hello, Bruce."

Arthur's heart melted. He looked like such a happy boy. In a way, he envied him, but knowing that Bruce was only an innocent child, Arthur saw no reason to harm him. He only wanted to be his friend and make a connection with him. Reaching his hands through the gate, Arthur started to caress Bruce's soft hair and angelic face. He then started to hook his thumbs into the corners of the child's mouth, hoping to widen his smile just a little bit more.

Bruce found himself feeling uncomfortable by being touch by a stranger and took a step back from Arthur. He wasn't hurt, but something told him that this was wrong. "What are you doing?" Bruce asked innocently.

Arthur placed his hands on the bars and told him, "I just wanted to see a bigger smile on your face."

"Bruce!" Came the English-accented voice of a middle-aged man running over toward the gate. He was wearing a butler suit.

Bruce turned and backed away from the gate, just as the butler came over and checked on him. "What are you doing? Get away from that man."

Arthur stood up and explained, "It's all right. I'm a good guy."

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The butler demanded. His name was Alfred.

"I'm here to see Thomas Wayne", Arthur answered.

"Well, you shouldn't be speaking to his son", said Alfred. He looked at Bruce and took the flower wand away from him, passing it back through the gate to Arthur. "Why did you give him these flowers?"

"They're not real", said Arthur. "It's just magic."

"Well, it's not funny, is it?" Alfred scolded. "Do I have to call security?"

"No, please", Arthur begged him. "My name is Arthur Fleck. My mother is Penny Fleck. She used to work here. Can you tell Thomas Wayne that I just need to speak to him?"

Bruce looked up at Alfred, who looked at Arthur in confusion and walked closer to the gate. "You're her son?" He asked him.

Arthur placed his hands on the bars and whispered to Alfred, "I know about them. She told me everything."

"There was no 'them'. You're mother was delusional. She's a sick woman. You're better off without her."

"Don't...say that", Arthur threatened him, quietly. There was brimstone burning in his bright green eyes. "Thomas Wayne is my father."

Alfred shook his head in sympathy and said, "Arthur, just go, before you make a complete fool out of yourself."

Suddenly, Arthur snapped, reaching a hand through the gate and grabbing Alfred by his throat, choking him. The butler tried to pull away, but Arthur only tightened his grip on the old man. A small voice cried out to him.

"Arthur, stop!"

Arthur glanced over at Bruce, his face losing some of its vengeful darkness. Bruce was staring back at him, scared that he might kill his faithful butler. Alfred might have been a cranky old man, but he was still his friend.

Seeing the look of horror on Bruce's face, Arthur released Alfred and turned around quick, running as far away as he could from Wayne Manor.

Alfred backed away from the gate and turned his attention over to young master Wayne, escorting him away.

"Alfred, are you okay?" Bruce asked him, his face horrified at witnessing the traumatizing violence.

"I'm fine", said Alfred. "But your mother and father will hear about this."

Arthur ran as far away as possible and looked back to see if anybody was following him, but there wasn't. Just as he looked forward to see where he was going, Arthur turned to his left and felt himself run into somebody, sending them both crashing down hard on the ground. He heard a woman groan in pain beneath him and sat up at once and looked down to see who it was and found it was Wendy.

"Arthur, what are you doing?" Wendy asked him, sounding slightly annoyed.

Arthur was too out of breath to answer her, but stood up at once and offered her his hand, which she took and allowed him to help her stand back up on her feet.

"Are you okay?" Arthur asked her.

"No, I'm not okay", Wendy complained, placing a hand on her backside and wincing from the pain. It felt sore and she was sure to have a bruise there in the morning. "Ow."

A car horn honked and Arthur and Wendy looked to see that it was Travis, poking his head out the driver's side window of his cab and saying to Arthur, "You wanna tell us what's going on here, pal?"


	16. Chapter 16

Wendy was quiet on the driver back into the city. After Arthur ran into her, he explained everything to her and Travis about what his mother told him last night. Although she loved him, Wendy didn't believe one word of Arthur's story was true. She didn't think it was accurate, but she didn't bother to tell him that to his face.

Travis glanced in the rearview mirror at the auburn-haired woman, who was staring out the window and not paying attention to Arthur sitting on her left.

Travis felt the tension between the two and turned his head and looked at Arthur. "You're really serious about that?" He asked him.

Arthur leaned forward in his seat and said, "I've never been more serious about anything in my entire life."

Travis returned his eyes forward and said, "Well, look, uh...While we're in the cab, I'd rather not discuss politics, you know. I got a real bad history with them. As a matter of fact, I was just telling Wendy about it this morning."

Wendy didn't even bother looking at Travis. Instead, she focused her attention on two people standing on the corner wearing clown masks, one of them holding a baseball bat, the other one holding a sign upside down that read '_Resist_'.

Travis and Arthur looked the other way and witnessed a gang of five beating up a homeless man on the ground. Three of them were wearing clowns masks, the other two were wearing makeup. Travis was a little unnerved by the shocking act of violence, while Arthur couldn't help but show a small smile on his face.

Travis shook his head in disgust, wishing a heavy rain would come and wash away the city of the filth and scum of the earth. It was no better here in Gotham City than it was in New York.

"Fucking unbelievable", Travis said to himself.

"I know", said Arthur. "Isn't it something?"

Wendy continued looking out at the wretched city, brooding and wishing these two men would shut up already. "It's stupid", she said at last.

Arthur dropped his smile and looked at her. "What?"

Wendy turned her head and looked at Arthur. She was angry with him. She looked forward and demanded, "Pull over, Travis. I wanna get out."

Travis pulled over and parked next to the curb. He put the meter up and turned his head to look at Wendy. Before he could tell her the full amount for the fare, Wendy handed him some money and told him, "Keep the change. I'm sorry I wasted your time." Wendy opened the door and got out and slammed the door hard. Travis flinched, wishing she hadn't done that. She obviously didn't read the sticker outside that read _Please Do Not Slam Door_.

Turning his attention over to Arthur, Travis looked at him and asked, "All right, what did you do to her?"

"Travis, I didn't do anything", Arthur defended himself.

"Well, you better go after her. I don't know what's gotten into you, Arthur, but you're acting pretty weird lately, you know that?"

Arthur ignored his comment and got out. He shut the door and ran over to try and caught up with Wendy, who was halfway down the sidewalk.

"Wendy, wait", said Arthur.

"Forget it, Arthur. I don't want to talk about it", said Wendy, not looking at him.

Getting irritated, Arthur grabbed her by her wrist and said, "Wendy, goddamn it!"

Wendy yanked her arm away from him and turned on her heel to face him. "Watch your mouth, Mr. Man! I don't take that kind of talk from people! You wanna get slapped in the face next?"

"Wendy, what is wrong with you? Do you really think I would lie to you about something like this?"

"You really expect me to believe that bullshit story you just made up?"

"It's not bullshit, Wendy. It's the truth."

"Well, what did you expect, that Thomas Wayne was going to roll out the welcome wagon? Just because your mother worked for him years ago, doesn't mean he's going to give her special treatment. You told me last night you never had a father. Even if you were the illegitimate son of Thomas Wayne, which I highly doubt you are, you don't look anything like him. I told you I loved you for who you are. What's wrong with being Arthur Fleck?"

"You really want to know what's wrong with being Arthur Fleck? I'll tell you. When people stop and stare at Arthur Fleck, all they see is a loser. People harass me and abuse me everyday, but I go on with my life acting as if it never happened. I've been called every name in the book and I pretended to show that it doesn't bother me when, in fact, it does. I don't want to be hurt anymore, Wendy. I just want to be loved and accepted, but everybody walks right over me like garbage and act as if I don't exist. People take one look at me and they see me as some kind of freak. It's a lot more easier to laugh at Frankenstein's Monster on the beach than it is a fat guy, right?"

Wendy was even more confused than before and questioned him, "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Arthur groaned in frustration and turned to walk away for a moment, running his hands through his hair and gathering tresses of dark brown tufts between his fingers. He lowered his arms down to his sides and turned to Wendy, walking back over to her and saying, "Just forget it, okay? You'll never understand."

"What don't I understand? If you truly believe you're the illegitimate son of Thomas Wayne, that's on you, Arthur. Not me."

"I thought you said you were on my side!"

"I am on your side!"

"Then why don't you believe me?"

"Because the fucking timeline doesn't make any sense!" Wendy blurted out. "You said your mother worked for the Wayne family over thirty years ago, right? Well, tell me this, Arthur, if you're forty-five and Thomas Wayne is a man in his late fifties, how old was he when your mother had you, fifteen? I'm not calling you a liar, Arthur, but I would appreciate it if you got your facts straight, because either your mother's not telling you something or you're just trying to fuck with me!"

Arthur turned around and crossed his arms, shutting himself off completely from the auburn-haired woman. "Why did I bother opening myself up to you? I thought you were different, Wendy."

"Well, if you don't like the car you're driving around with, maybe you can trade it in for a different color, maybe a black one." Turning around, Wendy started to walk away.

Arthur, detecting a hidden racial message in her voice, turned around immediately and questioned her, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Wendy stopped and turned back to look at him. She knew what she said and wasn't going to correct herself. Instead, she was going to give Arthur a piece of her mind. She walked back over and explained, "There are a lot of things I can take, Arthur, and some things I can't. But what I can't take is when a man starts losing interest in me and starts staring at other women. I wasn't going to say anything because I thought it wouldn't bother me, but it does. I don't mean to sound prejudice, but when you give a girl the wrong impression, she thinks you're not interested in her. I didn't want you to lead me on, Arthur. If a wanted a guy like that, I would have stayed with Mark."

Arthur looked at her like she was crazy and asked her, "What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you just admit it, Arthur", said Wendy. "You're using me to get to Sophie."

Arthur didn't like where this conversation was going and asked her, "Why are you saying that?"

"I saw the way you looked at her that day outside the bank. And last night when we went out, I noticed you kept looking the other direction trying to find her in the crowd. I saw her with that other man, Arthur. I'm not a idiot. I can read your face like a book. You love her, don't you? And don't try and tell me you don't, because I know you do. If you didn't want to go out with me, you should have just fucking said so."

"Well, what did you think, that you and I were a couple?"

Wendy gasped softly, her eyes widened in shock and horror. She stared at Arthur in disbelief, feeling her heart shatter like a glass mirror.

Seeing the look of hurt in her eyes, Arthur quickly realized he fucked up. He shook his head and tried to touch her, but Wendy stepped back from him.

"Don't", said Wendy, her eyes turning misty. She covered her chest with his arms and said, "It's all right, Arthur. I can take a hint. You don't want me for a girlfriend. You just want me for a support system. I get it."

"Wendy, I didn't mean it like that." Arthur tried placing a hand on her shoulder, but Wendy turned away and faced her back to him. "Wendy, just listen to me, please? Even if I did love Sophie, she doesn't even know I exist."

Wendy looked over her left shoulder, trying hard not to cry, and asked him, "Then why do you love her?"

Arthur didn't know how to respond to that. He couldn't find one thing to say about Sophie that he liked. He thought he loved her, but he didn't know anything about her.

Wendy looked away from him again, tightening the grip on her upper arms. "You're so immature, Arthur", she murmured.

"I didn't know that was how you felt about me", said Arthur. "You said you only wanted to be my friend. You never said anything about-"

Wendy lowered her arms down to her sides and turned around, cut him off and saying, "You think I don't know that you exist? When we first met, I only thought of you as a stranger. But then you became my friend. When I said I wanted to be your friend last night, what I really meant to say was that I wanted to be your girlfriend. I was just afraid to tell you because I knew something like this was going to happen. If you don't want me as your girlfriend, that's fine. I can live with it. But which would you rather have, Arthur: somebody who loves you and wants what's best for you or somebody who doesn't even know your name?"

Arthur said nothing and just stared at her. She told him she only wanted to be his friend when they first started out, now she was admitting that she loved him? What kind of mind game was she playing with him, he wondered.

Taking his silence as a sign of rejection, Wendy shook her head and told him, "Just forget it."

Just as she turned and was about to walk away for good, Wendy felt a tight grip on her left wrist and found herself being pulled back over to Arthur, who kept his right arm wrapped around her waist. Wendy fell against his chest and looked at him, noticing a warm, soft glow radiating from his pale face. His green eyes were soft and warm, bright and intense. It was the same look he shared with her back in his apartment the first time they met. Arthur didn't know what was happening to him. Ever since the night of the subway killings, he had been battling himself with an alternate ego that was begging to be released from inside him. He showed her a small taste of that other ego last night when he spotted the clown drawing on the newspaper. He could still see the faces of those three men he killed. He remembered how they held him back and knocked him down and abused him to the brink of insanity. He had to defend himself. If he hadn't, he wouldn't be standing here having this conversation with Wendy right now. It was all very conflicting.

_How can I tell if she really loves me? _Arthur thought to himself. She seemed real enough. She didn't act like she was faking it. Maybe she really did love him. If so, he wasn't sure how to tell her how he really felt. Arthur never believed in romance, but then again, he never had a steady girlfriend before. He admitted to himself that Wendy was beautiful and had a caring heart, but it was her fiery spirit and headstrong personality he loved even more. She didn't ridicule him for his laughing condition. She went to his stand up act, and even though she didn't like the crowd, Wendy still agreed that he tried his best and gave it everything he had. She stayed with him after the show and even went on a date with him. Whether he liked it or not, Arthur had to admit he was happy with Wendy whenever she was around him. He wouldn't be young forever and he was already pushing for fifty in a couple of years. Maybe it was time for him to finally give love a chance.

For many years, Arthur felt alone, never having anyone for company aside from his mother. He loved his mother very much, but a mother's love would not satisfy the secret urge for the companionship of another woman. He needed someone who would understand and love him and encourage his comedy, no matter how dull or senseless it may have seemed. Wendy was the perfect woman to fit that description. She was kind and patient with him and cared for him a lot. If this was what it took for him to fulfill that sacred love dream, then so be it.

"You really want this to work out between us?" Arthur asked her.

Wendy slowly nodded her head and whispered, "Yes."

"And you do love me?"

"Yes."

"Then you believe me about Thomas Wayne and my mother?"

Wendy hoped he had forgotten about that, but out of fear of being turned down and losing Arthur, she found she had no other choice but to give in to his insane version of reality and accept it. "Okay."

That wasn't quite the answer he wanted to hear, but Arthur took it as a yes.

Wendy continued to stare at Arthur, hoping he would make the first move. Her heart ached so much for him right now. She wanted him to kiss her, to touch her. Anything. She just wanted to reach up and bring her lips in contact with his, but figured she was rushing into it too quickly and needed to take some time to think things over with Arthur before jumping into dangerous waters. Swimming with sharks, just like her uncle warned her.

"We should get out of here", Arthur whispered to her.

Wendy was lost for a minute, not sure if she heard him correctly. "You want us to leave the city?"

Arthur shook his head. "No. I mean it's not safe around this part of town. We should get out of here before something happens."

Wendy lowered her gaze and said in a disappointed tone of voice, "Oh. Okay."

Arthur took hold of her hand and began to lead Wendy away from the dangerous part of Gotham. "Come on, I'll take you home."

"No!" Wendy stepped in front of Arthur, placing her hands on his chest so she could stop him. Arthur looked at her with wide eyes. Wendy removed her hands from his chest and said calmly, "No. Not just yet."

"Why not?" Arthur asked her.

Wendy didn't know what to say to him. What was she supposed to say, that she was being constantly harassed by an uncle who held a gun to her and threatened to kill her over the pettiest of things.

"Let me talk to your mother first", Wendy insisted. "If I could just talk to her for a little while, I might be able to understand her better."

Arthur shook his head and told her, "I don't know if that's a good idea right now."

"Please?" Wendy begged him, her voice soft and gentle.

Arthur looked away for a minute and breathed out through his nose. When he looked at Wendy again, he told her in a stern voice, "If you do or say anything to upset her-"

"Arthur, I swear to you on my life. Just let me talk to her for five minutes. Five minutes, that's all I'm asking. The first sign of any discomfort I cause your mother, and I'll walk out of your life forever. I promise. Please, Arthur?"

Arthur couldn't understand her sudden interest in wanting to talk to his mother. He knew Wendy didn't believe him, but there was something about the tone of her voice that made it seem like she didn't want to go home right away, like she was scared of something. The only thing he could think of was her uncle. Had he done something to her? Arthur knew Wendy wouldn't tell him, but he still wanted her to be safe. He nodded and said, "Okay."


	17. Chapter 17

They got a ride in another taxi and were both quiet on the way back to the apartment building. Arthur looked at Wendy and she looked at him, but they hardly spoke to each other. He wasn't sure how Wendy talking to his mother was going to make any difference. He knew she didn't believe him, and yet he was desperate enough to give it a shot and let her talk to his mother. He didn't want to lose Wendy, but if anything went wrong between her and his mother, Arthur would never forgive her. Wendy already gave Arthur her word she would walk out of his life forever if anything happened. Arthur hated to admit it, but it frightened him to think he could lose the only woman who cared about him. It had already been a rough day. He didn't know how it could get much worse. His answer came as soon as they got back to the building.

Just as the taxi turned the corner, Arthur saw a crowd had gathered outside the apartment building. There was an ambulance there, too. Right away, he feared the worst. He got out and ran over to see what was the matter. Wendy followed close behind him. There was someone being brought out on a stretcher. There was an oxygen bag over their face, but Arthur managed to get a good look at the person.

"Mom?" Arthur asked. He went over to her side, seeing she wasn't breathing. "Oh, my God. What happened?"

"Sir, please step back", one of the paramedics told him.

"I'm her son", Arthur told them. "What happened?"

"Oh, great. You can help us out inside. We don't know what happened yet."

Arthur walked alongside his mother as she was carried over and loaded carefully into the back of the ambulance.

Wendy tugged onto the sleeve of Arthur's jacket and told him, "I'm coming with you." Together, she and Arthur both hopped into the ambulance. The siren blared and the ambulance raced to the hospital.

While the paramedics worked on keeping his mother alive, Arthur held her hand and stared at her in shock, wondering what happened. He had been gone all day long. What went wrong?

"Does your mother take any medication?"

Arthur didn't answer the paramedic, who asked him again.

"Sir, does your mother take any medication?"

"No."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"This morning."

"Does she have any medical history?"

"I don't-I don't know."

Wendy didn't say anything, but observed the old woman as the paramedics tried to revive her. This was the first time she had seen Arthur's mother, and this was not what she expected her to look like at all.

* * *

Once they arrived at the hospital, Arthur waited anxiously to see if his mother was going to be all right. Wendy kept trying to reassure him that she would be, but Arthur didn't appear to be listening to her.

Later, a doctor came out and explained to Arthur his mother had suffered a stroke. She was in stable condition, but would have to remain in the hospital for some time. The doctor showed Arthur and Wendy the room where his mother was being held and left them alone for a minute. Arthur took just one look at his mother and almost lost it. His mother was unconscious and hooked up to a breathing machine. The heart monitor beeped each time.

Arthur let out a shaky breath and placed a hand over his mouth, turning away. Wendy looked at him and heard either a quiet laugh or a sob escape from him. His shoulders trembled.

"Arthur?" Wendy asked him, placing a hand on his back.

Arthur shook his head and placed a hand over his heart and cried, "This is all my fault. It's all my fault. I did this to her."

"No, Arthur, that is not true", Wendy told him, firmly.

"Yes, it is!" Arthur turned around and told her, "I said some things to her I shouldn't have. When I read her letter to Thomas Wayne, she said she was dying. She's going to die, Wendy! There's nothing I can do!"

Wendy saw he was getting hysterical and slapped Arthur across his face. She grabbed his head with both her hands and shouted, "Arthur, listen to me! She is not going to die! None of this is your fault. Do you understand that?! Your mother suffered a stroke, and I know it's horrible, but don't you even think for one minute that you had anything to do with this. You're just scared. I went through the same thing with my father just before he..."

Wendy stopped herself before she said anything that made the situation worse. Arthur just stared at her, his face held no expression. He never even felt the pain when she slapped him. He was too numb to feel anything.

Wendy caressed his face as an apology and said calmly, "I know it's hard, but you need to be strong. I know you're afraid, but your mother needs you to be brave right now. I'll stay with you if you want me to, but not if you're gonna start acting like a lunatic. Got it?"

Arthur continued to stare at her for a while and whispered, "I need some air." He turned around and walked away, leaving Wendy alone in the room with his mother.

Arthur walked out of the hospital and went over and sat down on a bench. He lit a cigarette to calm himself down and breathed smoke into his lungs, then breathed out. He felt depression slowly sinking back in. His mother warned him last night he was going to give her a heart attack. She warned him something like this would happen and he believed it. Arthur blamed himself. If he hadn't yelled at her and left, she wouldn't have had a stroke.

While Arthur continued smoking his cigarette, two police detectives came up to him, one older than the other.

"Mr. Fleck? I'm sorry to bother you", said the first detective. "I'm Detective Garrity, this is my partner, Detective Burke. We had some questions for you, but you weren't home. So we talked to your mother."

Arthur looked at the two detectives, giving them his full attention. "What did you say to her? Did you do this?"

"No", Garrity told him. "We just asked her some questions and she started to get hysterical. She started hyperventilating, fell and hit her head pretty hard."

"Yeah, the doctor told me she had a stroke", Arthur barked at them.

Garrity and Burke looked at each other, sharing a look of uncomfortable guilt. "Well, we're sorry to hear that", said Garrity.

Arthur took another drag of his cigarette, wishing these two cops would just go away, but he knew they wouldn't.

"We still have some questions for you, if you don't mind", said Burke.

"About those subway killings last week", Garrity included.

"I don't know anything about that", Arthur defended, lying to them, of course.

"Well, we have an eyewitness who described the killer was a white male about five foot eight and wearing a clown mask or clown makeup. We spoke to your boss, Hoyt Vaughn, and he told us you were working a job on the day of the shooting. He also said you were fired for bring a gun to a children's-"

"It wasn't real", Arthur told them. "It was a prop. I'm a party clown." He took another drag of his cigarette and said, "They fired me because they said I wasn't funny enough. Can you believe that?" He stood up, flicking away his cigarette on the ground. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go take care of my mother."

Just as he was about to go back into the building, Arthur heard Detective Burke speak to him, "Your boss also gave us one of your cards."

Arthur stopped and turned back to look at the two detectives.

"This condition of yours...Is it real or just a clown thing?"

"A clown thing?" Arthur asked, sounding offended. He rolled his eyes and went to the sliding glass doors, only to slam into it. He expected it to open for him, but it didn't. He stepped back and waved at the motion detector.

"It's exit only", said Garrity.

Luckily for Arthur, a nurse came out and the doors opened. With as much dignity as he could muster, Arthur went back inside. The two detectives shared a look, skeptical about Arthur Fleck.

When he went back into the room his mother was staying in, Arthur found Wendy was sitting in a chair next to the window. She looked at Arthur and offered him a spot next to her. Arthur sat down and looked at his mother, who remained locked in a deep sleep. He wished he could take her place. He never wanted her to end up like this, not in a million years. His silent lament was comforted by a gentle hand rubbing his back.

"She's going to be all right", said Wendy.

"I just want to take her home", Arthur whispered, sadly.

Wendy hugged her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. Arthur placed a hand over her wrist, still staring at his mother. "I know you do", said Wendy, "But she's going to have to stay here for a while."

Arthur shook his head. "She doesn't like hospitals."

Wendy lifted her head and explained to him, "Arthur, a stroke is a very serious condition. She can't leave."

Arthur didn't bother to speak anymore. He just wanted to wake up from this horrible nightmare.

Wendy sighed and ran a hand through his hair and told him, "I'll have a talk with the doctor and see what I can do." She stood up and looked at the television bolted high up into the wall and walked out of the room.

The minute she left, Arthur turned his attention over to the TV, the sound of Murray Franklin's voice drawing him out of his sadden mood. The late night comedian told a joke, which he and the audience laughed at.

Arthur couldn't help but let out a small laugh himself, despite his sadden mood. No matter what, watching Murray Franklin always made him feel better.

"_And finally, in a world where everybody thinks they can do my job, check out this joker._"

The screen darkened and came back on, showing a grainy video footage of Arthur up on the stage of Pogo's Comedy Club. He was having a laughing fit and threw his arms over his mouth, holding a journal in one hand.

"Oh, my God", Arthur exclaimed, his jaw hanging open a bit. He nearly jumped out of his seat at seeing himself on TV. He stood up and stared wide-eyed at the screen as his television self started to calm down.

"_I hated school as a kid. My mother would say, 'You should enjoy it. One day you'll have to work for a living.' 'No, I won't, Ma. I'm gonna be a comedian._"

Arthur laughed at his own amusement and clapped his hands together, a big smile plastered on his face. His hero was admiring him. Finally, he was getting the recognition he deserved as a comedian.

His image disappeared on screen, changing back to Murray, who shook his head and laughed and said, "_You shoulda listened to your mother._" The studio audience laughed at that.

Slowly, Arthur's smile started to vanish. The light faded from his eyes, growing darker and darker with each passing minute. Murray wasn't laughing with him. He was laughing _at_ him!

The video continued playing, as the Arthur on TV said to the comedy club audience, "_When I was a little boy and told everybody I was going to be a comedian, everybody laughed at me. Well, no one's laughing now._"

Murray showed up again and told him, "_You can say that again, pal._" The studio audience laughed with him yet again.

Arthur felt as though he were in a trance. The man who he looked up to all these years, a man who he saw as a father, was nothing more than a crook, a fake. Wendy was right. There was a reason she hated him, and now he knew. Murray was no different than the millions of other residences in Gotham City. He was an awful person, just like the rest of them.

Arthur turned and dragged a chair over to him and stood on top of it to turn off the TV. He didn't want to see or hear anything to do with Murray Franklin anymore. He stared at his reflection for a while, looking deep into the soul of the dead gray screen. His admiration for Murray slowly faded away, his happy memories turning into dust.

By the time Wendy came back, Arthur was gone. The chair was moved and the TV was turned off. She wondered what happened.


	18. Chapter 18

Arthur went back to his apartment alone and locked the door and latched the chain. He went over and turned on the TV in the living room. He changed the channel until he found a soap opera, deciding to try something different for a change. He had enough of comedy for right now. He just wanted to spend some time alone and hide away from the world. He didn't even care if he left Wendy behind at the hospital. He knew she would be mad at him, but he would explain everything to her later.

It was late and he didn't get to sleep until three in the morning. Instead of the couch, Arthur thought he would sleep in his mother's bedroom for the night. He kept the TV on while he slept. By the time he woke up, it was late in the afternoon. He stayed in bed all day. He thought he heard a knock at the door, but didn't bother to answer it. He dozen off. By the time he woke up again, the sun was going down, the day turning back into night.

Arthur laid in his mother's bed, lying on his right side and facing the spot where she usually slept. He grabbed her pillow and brought it to his face. His forehead touched the cool surface of the pillowcase, yet he could still feel the warmth of her body and smelled the faint scent of her hair. He felt like a child who was alone and in desperate need of some comfort. He heard a news report on TV about the clown murderer on the subway. He sat up at once and crawled over to the edge of the bed and turned the volume up, listening to the broadcast with a blank expression. A mob of rioting people in clown masks and makeup were standing in front of a charity benefit being held at Wayne Hall, shouting and protesting the name of Thomas Wayne for the poverty they were suffering. Arthur smiled as one of the clown protesters cursed Thomas Wayne, though the swearing was bleeped out. He never thought he would gather such a large following, all because he took a gun to some people who beat him up. It was all too good to be true.

The newscaster reported that Thomas Wayne had offered little to nothing of an apology for his statement. That was enough for Arthur to finally do something about it. It was time for him to confront the famous billionaire.

* * *

Arthur took a taxi down to Wayne Hall, where a large crowd of protesters were standing outside the gala, screaming and shouting and holding up signs. There was a cluster of storm clouds gathering above, the oncoming sign of rain over the next day or so. A line of policemen and security guards were doing their best to hold back the crowd as they tried to push through the steel barricades blocking their way. Arthur walked easily through the crowd, staring around at the mass hysteria he had created. He cheered along with them, raising his fist in silent encouragement as he tried to find a way around the building to sneak in and talk to Thomas Wayne. One protester got into a fight with a couple of police officers, causing a huge fight in front of the building. Arthur took the opportunity to slip pass all the chaos and sneak in around the back. He found a door and went in. He knew he would look out of place in his grungy clothes, but luckily for him, he found a room with some red uniforms and put one on, passing off as a theater usher.

He walked through the lobby and went up some stairs into a theater room that was showing a movie for the evening. Inside, there were more than a hundred people, rich and elite alike. They shared the evening in laughter at a Charlie Chaplin movie playing on the giant silver screen. Arthur took a moment to enjoy the movie himself, before looking to his right and spotting Thomas Wayne sitting next to his pearl-wearing wife, Martha. He almost couldn't see him in the dark, but he recognized his profile from the picture he saw in the newspaper. Arthur felt nervous, thinking his plan wasn't going to work, but it was his last chance to talk to somebody and find acceptance in this cold, dark world. He only wanted a father. Arthur saw Thomas Wayne getting up out of his seat and decided to follow him out. He saw him go into the bathroom and went in to have a private word.

Thomas was using a urinal, there was another man standing next to him. Arthur waited for the other man to leave and removed his usher uniform. The other man came over to wash his hands as Arthur looked in the mirror and fixed his hair. Soon as the other man left, Arthur turned and took a deep breath, approaching Thomas Wayne and staring at him in disbelief. He summoned up the courage to speak and said in a timid voice, "Hello."

Thomas glanced over at the strange man staring at him and asked, "Can I help you, pal?" He sounded annoyed, thinking this guy knew nothing about privacy.

"I don't know what to say", said Arthur with a nervous smile.

Thomas zipped up his pants and flushed the urinal, walking over to the sink and asking Arthur, "What do you want, an autograph?" He washed his hands, thinking this guy was a freak.

Arthur turned and walked over to Thomas, saying, "My name's Arthur. Penny Fleck is my mother."

Thomas glanced at Arthur in the mirror and said, "Jesus Christ, you're the guy that came to my house." He turned off the faucet on the sink and dried his hands and turned to take a good long look at the man who approached his son.

"I have so many questions", said Arthur, not sure where to start.

"Arthur, I'm not your father", Thomas told him, sounding calm and polite. He figured he was dealing with a crazy man and didn't want to upset him.

"The thing is, I think you are", said Arthur.

"Well, you're wrong, because you were adopted. I never slept with her."

Arthur blinked, his brows creased in confusion. "What?...No, I wasn't...I wasn't adopted. Why are you saying that?" He was already starting to get upset. This was not the way he envisioned it.

"You mean she never told you?" Thomas asked him.

"Told me what?" Arthur asked him, restrained anger in his voice.

"You were adopted long before your mother started working for us", Thomas explained. "She was arrested when you were a boy and committed to Arkham State Hospital. She put your life at risk at the hand of her boyfriend for-"

"Okay, stop", Arthur told him, getting angry and feeling as though he were about to cry. "Why are you saying this to me? I know it sounds strange. I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I don't know why everyone is so rude. I don't know why you are. I don't want anything from you. Maybe a little warmth, maybe a hug, Dad! How about just a little bit of human fucking decency? What is it with you people?! You say that stuff about my mother? She's dying, for Christ's sake!"

"Arthur, I'm sorry", said Thomas with sympathy. "I really am, but no matter what you think about her, she's still crazy. You're better off without her."

Arthur couldn't believe Thomas just said that. Under enough stress as it was, Arthur started to break down in laughter, his voice cracking at one point. He looked at Thomas and said, "Dad, it's me. Come on, ha ha ha ha-"

Thomas was outraged, thinking Arthur was calling him a liar. He had enough and punched him right in the face. Although it hurt, Arthur did not cry or yell out. He stifled a laugh, holding his nose as he tried to fight the pain.

"Touch my son again and I'll fucking kill you!" Thomas warned him, threateningly. He walked out of the men's room and went to search for security.

Arthur held onto his nose, snorting down the blood that started to drip down his nostril. He choked on his dying laughter and walked over to the sink, bowing his head and placing his hands on the marble countertop, the blood from his nose dripping down onto the porcelain sink. He stood there for a minute, trying to breathe despite the pain. He felt as though the rug had just been pulled out from under him. He had one tiny glimmer of hope of finding out who his father was and Thomas Wayne ruined it for him.


	19. Chapter 19

It was late at night and he couldn't sleep. He sat at the table, his journal in front of him. He wrote down something and paused for a moment to have a smoke. He took a long drag from his cigarette and doused it into the ashtray. He picked up his pen and wrote down the name Thomas Wayne and drew a frowny face next to it. Arthur started to write again, but the lines became nothing but scribbles. He set the pen down and turned the pages of his journal and until he found the newspaper photograph of the Wayne family. He took it out and stared at the husband and father of one, hating the man. Arthur tore the photograph in half and started to shred it into a dozen pieces. He threw the pieces on the floor and rested his elbows on the table and lowered his face into his hands. He sniffled and laughed softly, his shoulders shaking with grief.

Arthur stood up and went into the kitchen. He had forgotten to take his medication and checked one of the orange pharmacy bottles on the counter, but it was empty. Arthur set the empty pill bottle next to the others and swiped the counter clean with his hand in frustration. He stood there with his hands on the counter and his head bowed, his frail, thin body hunched over in despair. The phone rang, but he didn't answer it. His mother was in the hospital, his supposed "father" had rejected him, and he failed his one chance of becoming a stand-up comedian. There was nothing left for him to live for anymore.

Arthur walked over to the fridge and opened the door and started taking out everything in it. Bread, milk, leftovers, even the shelves and the drawers. While he emptied the fridge, the answering machine took a message from the two detectives he saw the other night. They left a phone number for him to call them back, but he didn't hear them. All alone in his empty apartment and with no one to stop him, Arthur saw only one way out of his undying misery. He stepped into the fridge and closed the door, concealing himself inside. The door would not cooperate at first, but he finally managed to shut himself inside his frozen tomb. It was cold and dark and he didn't have a shirt on, but he didn't care. Arthur had become fed up with all the abuse and rejection he had taken from people over the years. Nobody would bother to look for him. No one would even care.

The phone rang again. Arthur groaned in frustration, covering his ears with his hands in the freezing darkness. "Shut up", he groaned, but the phone just ignored him and kept on ringing, waiting for him to answer. "Shut up!"

Everything turned quiet for a minute, then he heard a familiar voice on the answering machine.

"_Hello, Arthur? It's Wendy. I went to the hospital today to check on you and your mother, but the doctor said you never __showed up. I stopped by your apartment earlier to see if you were home, but I guess you weren't there. Anyway, just call me as soon as you get this message, okay? I need to talk to you. Bye._"

Arthur barely made out what she said on the machine, but hearing her voice was enough to snap him out of his suicidal tendencies. He forgot all about Wendy. She must have been worried sick about him. Arthur never even bothered to call or explain what happened the other night. He forced the door open immediately and fell out onto the floor. He stood up and walked over and decided to call her back. She answered him on the second ring.

"_Hello?_"

"Hello, Wendy? It's Arthur."

"_Hey, Arthur, I just called you._"

"I know."

"_Were you sleeping?_"

Arthur shook his head and answered, "No, I was just...taking a shower."

"_Well, I came by your apartment earlier to see if you were all right, but I guess you weren't home._"

Arthur closed his eyes and lowered his head into his hand. He felt bad having to lie to her, but it was the only way he could avoid losing her. If Wendy knew what he was about to do to himself, she would never forgive him.

"_Are you there?_"

"Yeah, I'm...I'm here. I'm fine."

"_Are you sure? You don't sound like you're fine._"

"I've been having a rough time these past couple of weeks."

"_I know, I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help._"

"There isn't anything anyone can do, Wendy", said Arthur, sadly. "I just have to take it one day at a time."

"_You want me to come over tonight?_"

"No, no. Just stay where you are. It's too dangerous at night to be wandering the streets by yourself. But if you could stay on the phone and talk to me for a while, I'd feel so much better."

"_All right. What do you want to talk about?_"

Arthur shrugged and said, "I don't know...How's your uncle?"

Wendy sighed heavily and told him, "_I don't know. He's been acting strange lately. Ever since I asked him to bail you out, he's been edgy and irritated. He's angry at me or something. I don't know. I __barely see him anymore. __When I'm not home during the day, he's usually here doing God knows what. And when I come home every night after work, he's usually gone and it's just me here alone by myself. I don't think he ever sleeps._"

"Maybe it's for the best", said Arthur. "Did you say you went and saw my mother?"

"_Yes._"

"Did she say anything?"

"_No. She was awake, but she wasn't talking._"

Arthur was quiet for a moment.

"_Arthur?_"

"I should have been there for her", Arthur murmured.

"_Arthur, it wasn't your fault_", Wendy reminded him.

"No, it was. I said some things I shouldn't have. I left the apartment to go clear my head. And when I came back, she was being taken to the hospital. You saw what happened."

"_Arthur, we talked about this. She's going to be all right. You'll see._"

Arthur felt like tears should be falling down his face right about now, but the tears of sadness decided to cross over with the sound of his laughter. His throat hurt before it even got started. His breath hitched and he was forced to cover his mouth with his hand. Even to himself, he found it offensive. His mother had suffered a stroke because of him. He didn't find it funny in the slightest way to be laughing at her misfortune. He banged the side of his head with his hand just to punish himself. Wendy could do nothing but listen to his emotional outburst until it ended. A minute later, the laughing ceased and Arthur was struggling to regain his breath.

Arthur felt silent tears falling down his cheeks and whispered softly, "I wish you were here with me right now."

"_I know_", said Wendy, sadly. "_I'm sorry you're having such a bad time, Arthur, but we'll get through this together. Always remember that I'm here for you. You're not alone._"

Arthur thought it over a minute and finally said, "Listen, I have something I have to do tomorrow, but maybe I could stop by your uncle's apartment sometime this week and visit you. If he doesn't mind, that is."

"_I think that can be arranged_", said Wendy. "_My uncle lives in apartment 18-B._"

"I miss you."

"_I miss you, too. I'll see you soon?_"

Arthur nodded. "I hope so. I have to go now, Wendy."

"_All right, Arthur. Take care. I love you."_

"Bye."

"_Bye._"

Arthur held onto the phone long after Wendy hung up. The dial tone echoed in his ear. She said she loved him. Could it really have been true? He certainly hoped so. Arthur hung up the phone and stood there for the longest time, repeating the words over in his head. '_I love you, Arthur_', the voice of Wendy replayed for him inside his head. '_I love you, Arthur. I love you, I love you, I love you..._'

* * *

The next morning, Arthur woke up in his mother's bedroom. He stretched and rolled over onto his back and opened his eyes, sunlight bleeding into the room. He looked to his left and found somebody in bed with him.

"Good morning, Arthur."

Wendy was sitting up in bed, wearing a sexy black lingerie, a matching garter on her right leg. She smiled and asked him, "How did you sleep?"

"I had a bad dream", said Arthur.

Wendy frowned and ran a hand through his hair and said, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"

Arthur thought it over, thinking of something he wanted Wendy to do. He had many thoughts about her, most of them sexual. There was only one thing he could think of to satisfy himself at the moment.

"Well, there is one thing", said Arthur, a shy smile on his face.

Wendy chuckled and turned to reach over for something on the nightstand. She straddled Arthur and pulled out a cigarette from between her breasts and placed it between her lips, using a lighter to light it up and take a slow inhale without any trouble. Removing the cigarette from her mouth and raising her head, Wendy blew smoke into the air and looked down at Arthur, handing the cigarette over to him.

"Why don't you help yourself to that", said Wendy, placing a hand gently over the bulge underneath the white fabric of his underwear. "While I play with this. You don't mind, do you, Arthur?"

"Not at all", Arthur answered, taking a drag, the tip glowing bright red.

Wendy lifted the waistband of his underwear and reached a hand down the front. Her hand wrapped around his penis and she slowly began to stroke him off. Arthur closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose.

"Oh, Arthur, you're so big", Wendy exclaimed. "Is all of this for me?"

Arthur opened his eyes and looked at her again. "What do you think?"

"You better be in for the time of your life, master. Because I am your slave, and I intend to please you however I can", said Wendy, her voice sounding like pure sex.

Wendy continued to work her magic of pleasuring Arthur, who moaned from her sensitive touch, his breath becoming rapid and uneven. Her pace quickened, the friction causing Arthur to groan uncomfortably at one point.

Wendy slowed down and looked at him with an arrogant smile on her face. "You want me to stop?"

"No, don't stop", said Arthur, breathlessly. "Just keep going."

"Your wish is my command", said Wendy, feeling the precum start to drip out from the tip. Her hand movement sped up a little bit, forcing him to come for her.

Arthur breathed heavily, continuing to get off at the feeling of having a woman give him a handjob. "Wendy...", Arthur whispered, desperately. "Wendy, I'm gonna..." His back arched and his head fell back against the pillow. He kept his eyes shut and groaned with ecstasy and came quickly, spilling his seed all over himself and onto her hand. He heard Wendy laugh, knowing she had done her job right. He felt exhausted, but overall, he was satisfied.

Wendy leaned forward and kissed Arthur on his lips, asking him, "How did that feel?"

Arthur took a minute to catch his breath and looked at her with half-lidded eyes, answering, "It was amazing."

"Did I hurt you?"

Arthur shook his head, whispering, "No."

"Good." Wendy kissed him along his jawline and told him, "Because that was just round one, baby. You can rest for a little bit if you're tired."

Arthur rested his eyes and felt her hand continue to stroke him gently. His penis had gone soft and limp, but it still felt good having her touch him like that. He needed it.

Just as the height of his orgasm died down, Arthur heard the phone rang. The weight of Wendy's body on top of him began less, as he opened his eyes again and found she wasn't there. He had fantasized the whole thing. He was holding a cigarette in his right hand, his other hand down in his underwear, pleasuring himself. He was masturbating in his mother's bed and brushing his thumb across the tip, which was dripping slightly. The phone continued to ring, but he didn't bother to answer it. He just wanted to lie there and savor the moment. It would have been much better if Wendy were actually in the room with him, but she wasn't.

The answering machine beeped and took a message. "_Hi, this is Shirley Woods. I work for Live With Murray Franklin. I have a message for Arthur Fleck._"

Arthur stopped what he was doing and lifted his head up, looking over toward the doorway. He groaned in annoyance and got out of bed, pulling his hand out of his underwear and switching his cigarette over to his left hand. He walked out of the bedroom and went into the kitchen. He pressed a button on the answering machine and took the call, picking up the phone and putting it to his ear.

"Who is this?" Arthur asked, a hint of skepticism in his voice.

"_Hi, this is Shirley Woods. I'm the show booker for Live With Murray Franklin. Is this Arthur?_"

"Yes."

While Arthur listened to the woman speaking to him on the phone, he placed his right hand over his abdomen, then to the left side of his chest. His heart was beating very fast and he felt a slight pain in his shoulder. He touched the tips of his fingers to his damp forehead and held onto the phone, his eyes widening a bit at the mention of Murray Franklin wanting him to come onto the late night show and be his guest.

Arthur wasn't sure he heard her correctly. "Murray wants me on the Murray Franklin Show?" He asked her.

"_Yeah. Isn't that great? Murray would like you to come onto the show, maybe do some of your act. We have an opening available this Friday. Does that sound good to you?_"

Arthur paused for a moment, bringing the cigarette to his lips and taking a short inhale, breathing out smoke. "Yeah, that sounds great", he answered, mild excitement in his voice.


	20. Chapter 20

Arthur took the bus down to the mental healthy facility known as Arkham State Hospital. He had been committed there once before, but that was a long time ago and he couldn't remember why. There was something he needed to find out before he went on the Murray Franklin Show. He got off at the bus stop and walked across the street up to the hospital. He walked into the building and went down the corridor and went over to the elevator and stepped inside. Before he could push the button to close the doors, two police men came in with a man who was covered by a white sheet and handcuffed to a stretcher. He was screaming his head off, but Arthur just ignored him.

When he came to the top floor, Arthur stepped out of the elevator and found an orderly and asked him where he could find out some information about a patient. The orderly gave him instructions and told him to go down the hall and make a right. Arthur followed the directions and found the administration office at the end of the hallway. He walked up to the service window, surrounded by a metal screen. A black man was sitting in the office, reading a magazine. He looked up from his page and looked at Arthur.

"Excuse me. Do you happen to remember a woman named Penny Fleck?" Arthur asked him.

"Is she a patient here?" The clerk asked him.

"She _was_ a patient here", Arthur told him. "She was admitted here over thirty years ago. I'm her son. Do you have any information on her at all?"

"I'm not sure", said the clerk. He closed the magazine and stood up and said, "I'll have to check the records. Can you wait a minute?"

"Sure."

While Arthur waited for the clerk to return, he turned around and checked out some of the people committed who were sitting in chairs along the hallway. One of them was a pale, innocent-looking young man with black hair and sad blue eyes. There was a brunette, green-eyed woman sitting next to him, muttering to herself. She was obviously a schizo. Arthur looked over at a tall, handsome black man sitting across from the two patients. He was staring off into space, a lobotomy scar on the side of his head. There was also a little dark-haired girl sitting on the floor, holding a doll. She looked over at Arthur, who smiled and waved at her. The little girl smiled and waved back to him. He wondered why she was there. He didn't even know the hospital took in children. He was sad to think about it, but knew there must have been a good reason why she was there.

Two orderlies, a man and a woman, came up to Arthur and asked him "Hey, weren't you that guy on the Murray Franklin Show the other night? The man who laughs a lot?"

"No, I'm sorry. That wasn't me", said Arthur.

"Yeah, you're that guy from Pogo's Comedy Club, aren't you?" The woman asked.

"No", Arthur insisted. "That wasn't me."

The man nodded and said in a sarcastic tone of voice, "Right." He and the woman turned and walked away. Arthur was pretty sure he heard the man say to the woman that he was a freak, but he didn't linger on it for very long.

The clerk came back, carrying a storage box. "Sorry about the wait. All records ten years and older are stored in the basement. You're talking about something from over thirty years ago. I had to do some serious digging."

"That's all right", said Arthur. He rested his arms on the counter and asked him, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure", the clerk answered, looking through the box of case files.

"How does someone wind up in here? Have all these people committed crimes?"

"Some have. Some are just crazy and pose as a threat to themselves or to others. Some just have nowhere else to go."

"Yeah, I hear ya, brother", said Arthur, trying to sound hip. "Sometimes, I don't even know what to do."

The clerk blinked and looked at him. "Excuse me?"

Arthur smiled and whispered, "I've fucked up. I mean, I've done some bad shit. Last time I ended up taking it out on some people, I thought it was going to bother me, but it really hasn't."

The clerk nodded his head, feeling uneasy. "Well, listen, I'm just an administrative assistant. I file paperwork and fill out forms. Maybe you should talk to someone, like, social services or something."

"Yeah, I'd like to, but-" Arthur made a talking motion with his hand and spoke in a high-pitched voice, "They cut all those."

The clerk nodded and continued to look through the storage box. "Ah, here it is", he said. "Fleck. Penny Fleck..." The clerk pulled out an old red file and opened it, reading from a faded yellow page. Arthur leaned over and tried to get a look at the file, but couldn't make out what it said and had to rely on what the clerk told him. "Uh-huh. Diagnosed by Dr. Benjamin Stoner. The patient suffers from delusional psychosis and narcissistic personality disorder. Was first committed at the age of fifteen. Single white female was last administrated on November 2, 1952 at the age of twenty-five, found guilty of endangering the welfare of..."

The clerk stopped reading out loud and scanned the rest of the file. Then he looked at Arthur, both worried and concern.

Arthur lost his smile immediately, knowing the clerk was hiding something. "What?"

"You said she's your mother?" The clerk asked him.

Arthur slowly nodded, waiting patiently.

The clerk closed the file and said, "Look, um...I'm sorry, but...I can't release this. Not without a proper form. I could get in trouble and-"

Arthur didn't have the time nor the patience to argue with the clerk. Reaching through the slot under the metal screen, he grabbed hold of the file from the clerk, who tugged on it as Arthur tried to ring it out from his hands.

"No, man!" The clerk shouted. "Let go!"

Their tug-of-war struggle didn't last very long, as Arthur banged his head hard on the metal screen and scared the clerk, causing him to lose his grip on the file. Quickly as he could, Arthur stole the file and began to run down the hallway, the voice of the clerk shouted for him to stop. Arthur looked back once and continued to run. He turned left, bumping into a nurse as he ran down another hallway. He turned again and found a door that led to a stairwell and ran down to about halfway at a landing below. He stopped for a minute and looked up the stairwell to make sure nobody had followed him. Breathing heavily, Arthur looked at the file in his hands and opened it, reading from the same page the clerk did. The form told that it was the third time Penny Fleck had been admitted. Why she had been committed three times, he didn't know. There was a report from the Department of Health. _Permission to Search for Reports Abuse or Neglect_, it read. It described her as being delusional and a narcissist, showing bizarre behavior and physical abuse, and something about her having an abusive boyfriend.

Arthur couldn't believe it at first, but then he specifically remembered Thomas Wayne saying something about his mother having a boyfriend just before he cut him off at the gala the other night. Arthur could never remember his mother ever having a boyfriend. It had always been just him and her. He heard a noise from upstairs and held his breath for a minute, but nothing happened.

Arthur returned his gaze back to the documents and turned a page in his mother's file and found the one thing he hoped he would ever find: an adoption certificate. It read that he was an unknown child, an orphan with no name and no title. No identity. He had been abandoned from the day he was born.

_No, there must be a mistake_, Arthur thought. His heart was in his throat and he knew he was going to go into a laughing fit if he read any further, but he needed to know the truth.

Turning over the adoption certificate, Arthur found several newspaper clippings and forensic photographs of himself as a three-year-old boy with a bruise on his cheek and a cut over his upper lip. His face looked sad and confused, like he didn't understand what was happening. There was one photo of him tied to a radiator by a rope with multiple bruises all over his naked body. He looked thin and malnourished. There showed a photo of a filthy crib in one of the newspaper clippings. The headlines read things like, '_House__ of Terror For Mother and Adopted Son_' and '_Mother Stood By As Adopted Son Was Abused_'.

All kinds of memories were suddenly coming back to him. "_Mommy!_" Cried the voice of a young boy. "_Mommy, help me!_" Arthur immediately realized it was his own voice he was hearing. "_Mommy, they're hurting me!_"

Arthur felt his chest tightened, his heart tearing apart as he kept reading the documents. A bit of sad laughter came out of him, as he read about the abuse his so-called "mother" allowed him to take from not just one abusive boyfriend, but several. It was worse than he thought. Not only was Arthur abused, but also Penny. There was a photograph of her when she was a young woman and had a black eye. The newspaper article read how she allowed Arthur to be raised in an unhealthy environment and did absolutely nothing to stop the torture from her boyfriends. She allowed them to abuse Arthur sexually and deprive him of food and drink for days on end.

The laughing grew stronger and Arthur could hear the awful truth ringing to life about why he was so messed up to begin with. There was a reason he could never remember his childhood. There was a reason why he laughed under stressful situations. This was why. He had repressed the horrible memories long ago because of the hurt it caused him. His life was a lie. It was all just a lie.

...

_They were sitting in a white room. Dr. Benjamin Stoner was sitting across from a young patient named Penny Fleck, who had a black eye on her face. __He was interviewing her about her arrest and recent admission. _

_"We talked about this, Penny", said Dr. Stoner. "You adopted him. We have all the paperwork right here." He indicated toward a red case file on the table and opened it to reveal the adoption certificate to her.  
_

_"That's not true", said Penny, looking off into the distance, her eyes vague and glossy. There was no expression on her face. No remorse for her actions. "Thomas had that made all up so that it stayed our secret."_

_"Penny, your son was found tied to a radiator in your filthy apartment, malnourished, with multiple bruises across his body and severe trauma to his head", Dr. Stoner explained to her, displaying the forensic photographs.  
_

_"That's not true", Penny repeated, shaking her head in denial and licking the corner of her mouth. "I always kept a clean house."_

_"You also stood by as one of your boyfriends repeatedly abused your adopted son and battered you, as well", Dr. Stoner reminded her. __"What do you have to say for yourself?"_

_"I never heard him cry. He's always been such a happy little boy."_

...

How could she do this to him? Why would she allow her own child to suffer, especially at the hands of an abuser? Did she not care? If Penny Fleck really loved Arthur, she would have stopped the abuse from ever happening in the first place. As far as Arthur was concerned, Penny Fleck was a woman who had no heart. She was never a mother to him. Just a cold, heartless bitch.

Arthur stopped reading the documents at that point. He closed the file and held it against his chest, letting out the most heartbreaking and painful laughing fit he ever had. He felt heavy tears leak out from behind his eyelids and snot running down his nose. No wonder he was locked away for such a long time. It was because of Penny Fleck and the boyfriends she cared about more than him. All his life, Arthur felt like she never really loved him or cared for him as a son. He was just another person to her. He wasn't anybody special to Penny. He meant nothing to her.

Wiping away the snot and tears from his reddening face, Arthur sniffled and cried alone on the stairs, listening to the sound of thunder gathering outside. Thomas Wayne was right. Arthur was not his son, but the unwanted bastard child of an unknown and unimportant couple. He wasn't the product of a love affair between Penny Fleck and Thomas Wayne. He was nobody. Just a man who laughed. Arthur was crushed. All he ever wanted was to belong to somebody and to have a successful life, but now, that was never going to happen. It started raining.


	21. Chapter 21

He didn't get back home until dark. It was pouring down rain and he didn't have his hood on. Arthur walked down the street, his body soaking wet, and went into the building, his depression clearly evident on his cold, gaunt face. He thought he would find the answer he was looking for when he went to the hospital, but he didn't. He only found out the awful truth about himself. He was unimportant, a nobody, a ward of the state raised by the hand of a devil woman who never showed him one scrap of affection.

Arthur went over and pressed the button to open the doors to the elevator. He stepped inside and took the trip up alone. His mind was all a blank. He didn't know what to do or who to turn to. He felt his whole entire life was nothing more than a fucking joke. Thinking it over, Arthur slowly looked to his right, imagining Sophie giving him the same finger gun motion to her head. He knew exactly what she was trying to tell him. He wanted to see her. He wanted so much to tell her how he felt about her. Would she return the same feelings he had for her? Part of him wanted to say yes, even though he knew she already had a boyfriend.

Arthur didn't know why he loved Sophie or even obsessed over her. She didn't know he existed and they never shared but one conversation with each other. They had no chemistry together. It could never be. Either way, Arthur had to see her. There was something he needed to do.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Arthur stepped out and went down the hall, walking past his own apartment and going down toward the one at the very end. He eyed the doorknob and placed his hand on it, turning it to see if it was locked. It wasn't.

Arthur pushed the door open quietly and walked inside, eying the coats and child's backpack hanging up. He walked in further and looked around the living room. He walked over to the wall, running his hand over a finger painting drawn by a little girl. He noticed the TV was showing a sheet of snow, the reception lost and broken. He went over and sat down on the couch, hunched over with his head hanging low, his wet hair dangling in front of his sad face. He looked like a broken bird.

He heard the door to the bedroom open and heard footsteps approaching. Sophie gasped in shock. Oh, my God! What are you doing here?"

Arthur didn't answer her or look at her. He could already tell she didn't want him there.

"Your name's Arthur, right?" Sophie asked him. "You need to leave. You're in the wrong apartment. You live down the hall."

"I've had a bad day", said Arthur, his voice low and quiet.

Sophie didn't hear him. She tried to stay calm and not do anything to upset the crazy man sitting in her living room. "I really need you to leave. My little girl is sleeping in the other room."

Arthur lifted his head and slowly turned it and looked at Sophie, who remained where she was, not wanting to approach him any further than she should. He raised a finger to the side of his head, echoing the same gun finger motion she showed him before.

Sophie raised a hand to her mouth, letting out a soft gasp.

Arthur stared at her with sorrowful eyes, longing for her to return his feelings for her. "Why don't you love me?"

Sophie lowered her hand and said, "You need some help. Is there somebody I can call? Is your mother home?"

Arthur lowered his hand and told her, "I don't have anywhere else to go. I just need somebody to talk to."

Sophie took a risk and slowly walked over to Arthur, who stood up and continued to stare at her.

"What do you want, Arthur?"

At first, Arthur didn't say anything. He just stood there, looking at her. His body was shaking, though she probably thought it was from the rain. Sophie saw a strange look in his eyes, showing her a monster behind two glistening eyes of envious green. She feared the worst and thought about about running over to the phone to call the police, but she never got the chance to do that.

Without warning, Arthur grabbed Sophie by her throat and pinned her down to the floor, his slender hands crushing her neck and cutting off the air to her lungs. Sophie tried to scream, but she couldn't. Arthur was choking her. She scratched at his wrists to try and get him to stop, but he was too strong. How could a man who looked so fragile and weak actually be so strong and powerful?

Arthur didn't care how badly he was hurting her. He already had a fucked up day. He wanted to take his anger out on somebody. Sophie was the perfect victim. She gagged and was quivering beneath him, the light fading from her eyes. Her biggest fear was not for herself, but for her daughter. This seemingly-harmless man was hurting her, strangling her. She felt tears running down her cheeks.

Eventually, she stopped moving. She wasn't breathing. Arthur felt a faint pulse, then he felt nothing at all. He could have sworn she was dead.

The sound of thunder rumbled outside, then there came the sound of a little girl's frightened voice. "Mommy?"

Arthur snapped out of it and looked over toward the bedroom, wondering if she heard what just happened.

"Mommy, I'm scared."

The girl's mother did not answer her. Nor would she say anything ever again.

Arthur released his grip on Sophie's body, then stood up and walked out of the apartment immediately, shutting the door behind him. His face was dark and he showed no remorse for his actions. He went back to his apartment and locked the door and leaned against it. Right away, he burst out laughing, his face filled with agony. He took off his wet jacket and then the rest of his clothes until he was stripped down to nothing but his underwear. He walked over and sat down on the couch, going into a heart-wrenching fit of stressed out laughter. If he had a list of his top ten worst days ever, this would be number one. Having found out that he was adopted and abused as a child, finding out he was not the son of a rich man, and having lost the woman he yearned for the most, Arthur felt he was on the brink of loosing himself over to his insanity again. First the subway murders, and now this.

He paused his laughter and reached for a cigarette and tried to light it, but had to stop himself and let the uncontrollable laughing take its course. He leaned over and hugged the pillow beside him, hearing somebody on the bottom floor telling him to shut up. Arthur sat up and tried taking a drag, but started laughing again. He leaned forward until his forehead touched the coffee table in front of him, hearing the siren of an ambulance approaching. The flashing red lights outside indicated it pulled up in front of the building. Somebody must have called about Sophie, probably her daughter. Because her mother would not make it through the night, Sophie's daughter would grow up to become an orphan. Arthur sat up and drew in a breath of air, finding the thought to be very amusing in a dark, twisted way. He brought the cigarette to his lips and breathed smoke into his lungs, chucking softly as it gave him an idea about what to do with the woman who raised him and gave him hell since the moment he was born. It was time to say goodbye to mommy dearest. It was time to say goodbye to Penny Fleck.


	22. Chapter 22

For years, Arthur never knew the truth. He never knew just how much of a monster she really was to him. Penny Fleck never card about him. If she did, she would never have allowed him to be abused when he was an innocent child. Arthur hated her for using him and lying to him all these years. Now it was time for payback. There was a lot to be said and so little time to say it. He decided to make it short and sweet. He wanted to come right to the point and tell her what he really thought about her and the life she put him through.

Once she was awake, Arthur lit up a cigarette and took a drag, lifting his head and blowing smoke into the air. He didn't care if it affected the senile old woman lying on her deathbed. She would soon be dead anyway.

"Hello, Penny", said Arthur. He spoke softly, but there was a hidden rage somewhere underneath that gentle masculinity. He scoffed and shook his head in disbelief. "Penny Fleck...I always hated that name."

Arthur took another drag from his cigarette, blowing smoke into the air again. "You remember", said Arthur, looking over at her, "that when I was born, you told me God gave me this laughing condition for a reason? That I had a purpose? Well, fuck you, Penny. Because it wasn't God who gave me this condition. It was you...Or was it one of your boyfriends?...I know about everything. I'm not stupid like you think I am." Arthur looked away from Penny, breathing in another drag and blowing out more cigarette smoke. He shook his head in anger and resentment, questioning her, "How could you let that happen? What kind of woman are you? What kind of _mother_ are you?"

Penny tried to speak to him, but only managed to say one word in a very weak voice, "Happy..."

Arthur closed his eyes, chuckling and shaking his head in disgust. He looked over at the old woman with bitterness and said, "Happy? Do you even hear yourself right now? I don't think you ever paid attention to anything or anyone but yourself. I haven't been happy one day in my entire fucking life." Taking one last drag, Arthur breathed out a cloud of smoke and dropped his cigarette on the floor, crushing it with his foot before he stood up and said, "You wanna know what makes me happy?" He walked over to the old woman's bedside. "What really makes me laugh?" With an eyeball of hate and without even a second thought, Arthur pulled the breathing tube out of her nose and told her, "I used to think...that my life was a tragedy." He snatched up the pillow behind her head and whispered darkly, "But now I realize...it's a fucking comedy."

Arthur covered her face with the pillow, smothering her with it until she ran out of breath. Penny, as weak as she was, tried in vain to put up a fight, but had no strength and was fighting a loosing battle. Arthur showed no mercy on his face, no compassion. His gaze was cold as stone. He wanted to hurt Penny the same way she hurt him in the past, but found the matter of a quick and painless death much more satisfying. The heart monitor beeped rapidly, speeding up faster and faster, until finally, it went silent. Arthur waited a minute to make sure he killed her, then removed the pillow from Penny's face, seeing she was dead.

Once the bitch was dead, Arthur dropped the pillow on the floor and turned over to the window, breathing deeply through his nose and basking in the glory of the sunlight as storm clouds gathered outside. Thunder rumbled and lightening flashed across the darkening sky. It started raining again.

* * *

Travis drove around for a while inside the taxi, gazing out at the people he called animals. Freaks, druggies, hookers, and every other possible title he could think of to describe the night life people of Gotham City. It was no different here than it was in New York. The rain pattered on the roof of his cab, the windshield wipers blinding his vision temporary while he cleared them of the rain to see where he was going on the slick road. There were few people walking around on the street that night. Most of them did the smart thing by staying home. There was one person he spotted walking down the sidewalk that looked very familiar. Wearing a brown jacket with his hood down, Travis recognized the person from his wavy, longish dark brown hair. Pulling over to the curb, he leaned over and rolled down the passenger side window to talk to him.

"Hey! Arthur!"

Arthur stopped in his tracks, signaling that Travis had his attention. He didn't look at him.

"You want a ride somewhere?" Travis offered.

Arthur turned his head a bit, but still not enough to look at the taxi driver fully. "I don't have any money", he said.

"I don't care, just get in here."

Arthur turned and walked over to the cab, opening the back door and getting inside. Travis rolled the passenger side window back up and started off down the road again. He glanced in the rearview mirror at Arthur, who was soaking wet from head to foot. He had to be out of his mind walking around on a night like this. Travis had a terrible feeling something bad happened to Arthur. He looked so melancholy, and not just because he was wet.

"What the heck you think you're doin' walking around in the rain?" Travis asked him. "You'll make yourself sick if you do that, you know. And why the long face? You and Wendy have another fight or something?"

Arthur still didn't look at him. He looked out the left back window at the pouring down rain, the mood matching the same way he felt: gray, miserable, and depressed. "My mother just died", he said.

Travis blinked and turned his head to look at him briefly. He looked forward again and asked him, "What happened to her? Do you know?"

Arthur paused momentarily and answered, "She just stopped breathing. One minute, she was fine. The next minute, she was gone."

"Ah, Jesus, Arthur. I'm sorry."

"Not half as sorry as I am. She had a good life while it lasted."

Travis glanced at Arthur in the rearview mirror. He could tell he wasn't exactly all there. Something else was on his mind, but he didn't know Arthur well enough to ask or question him about it. He seemed like he didn't want to talk about anything, so he just left it at that. The taxi driver continued driving around for a while down another section of Gotham, honking his horn at one point at someone who almost pulled their car out in front of him.

Arthur sat there in the backseat, feeling that there was nothing left for him anymore. He had no job, no family, no friends, and no life. He was all alone. He might as well go jump off a bridge and fling himself into a river.

Just then, he felt a soft hand place itself gently over his, gripping his cold fingers. Arthur slowly looked to his right, seeing a smiling Wendy sitting next to him. He only imagined she was there with him, but then the thought occurred to Arthur. All this time, he was never truly alone. Wendy was there with him the whole time. He remembered back to all the times they shared together: the night they first met outside his apartment when her ex-boyfriend threw her out, the morning after the incident and she asked if she could see him again, the day before the subway killing when she came across him outside the bank when he was following Sophie, the one time he got arrested and she helped to bail him out of jail, the date they had at the coffee shop after his failed stand-up act, the fight they had about Thomas Wayne, her being there for him when Penny was at the hospital.

Even when he tried to kill himself, Wendy somehow managed to be there for Arthur. All they did was talk, but it was enough to make Arthur feel better. He was ready to give up on himself at that point, but Wendy helped him through it by being there for him. Arthur never realized just how much he meant to her. He was so blinded by his unreliable version of reality, he completely pushed her aside. He had been unfair to her. If anything were ever to happen to him, it would break her heart. He couldn't bare to let that happen. Whether he realized it or not, Arthur needed Wendy now more than ever. She was his last hope. If Wendy rejected him, he was better off dead.

Travis honked his horn again and muttered under his breath, "Fucking shitheel", which caught Arthur's attention.

"Did you say something?" Arthur asked him.

Travis glanced at Arthur's reflection in the rearview mirror and shook his head, keeping his eyes focused on the road. "No, nothing. I'm just thinkin', that's all. Nothing important, you know. You want me to drop you off somewhere?"

"Yeah. Take me to Wendy's apartment", Arthur answered.

Travis looked back and returned his gaze forward, asking, "Kinda late, isn't it? You think she's awake at this hour? How long have you two been seeing each other anyway?"

Arthur sighed and said, "I don't know. A week, maybe? I lost track of everything."

Travis came to a stoplight and waited until it turned green and started moving again. He drove to the Upper West Side and pulled up to the apartment building. He turned off the engine and looked back at his passenger.

"Listen, Arthur, I'm really sorry about your mother, but if you ever need anything, just...If there's anything I can do to help, you know, just...Just give me a call, all right? I'll see you around, Arthur."

Arthur didn't say anything. He opened the door and stepped back out into the rain again. He shut the door and walked right up to the building. He pushed threw the revolving door and went inside. He looked around the lobby and walked over to the elevator. He pushed the button and the elevator doors opened. He stepped inside and turned to push the button to take him up to the eighteenth floor. The elevator closed and took him up.

Once the elevator came to the eighteenth floor, Arthur stepped out and walked down the corridor until he found apartment 18-B. He knocked on the door and waited for a response. _Please let her be home_, he prayed silently.


	23. Chapter 23

Wendy was sitting on the couch, reading a newspaper about the anti-rich movement and the vigilante clown still on the loose. It felt like this had been going on for weeks, but it had only been about five or six days. She wasn't keeping track. Wendy heard a knock at the door and looked over toward it. She folded the newspaper and and set it on the coffee table and stood up and went to the door. She looked through the peephole and saw a familiar face waiting for her to answer. Wendy unlocked the door and opened it, surprised to see that it was Arthur. His hair was dripping wet and his clothes were completely soaked.

"Arthur?" Wendy asked him. "Arthur, what happened to you?"

Arthur didn't answer her. He just stood there, looking at her and not saying anything.

"Come on, I'll get you a towel."

Wendy took hold of his hand and brought Arthur into the apartment. She shut the door, then turned her attention over to Arthur and unzipped his wet jacket and took it off of him, hanging it up on the coat rack. She brought him into the living room and sat him down on the couch and left him alone for a minute. She returned with a towel and sat down next to Arthur and dried his hair for him as best she could. She hoped he wouldn't get sick.

Tossing the towel aside, Wendy placed her hand on his left shoulder and asked him, "Arthur, what happened? Are you hurt?"

Arthur shook his head, refusing to look at her.

"Arthur, talk to me", Wendy begged him. "What's wrong? Did something happen? Is your mother okay?"

"My mother's dead", Arthur whispered.

Wendy's eyes grew wide with shock upon hearing that. "What?"

"She died this morning", said Arthur.

Wendy couldn't believe it. She shook her head and said, "No...No, what...What do you mean?"

"Thomas Wayne was right", said Arthur. "I'm not his son. I was adopted. I was abandoned when I was only a baby."

Wendy didn't understand what he was saying. Arthur must have been in shock, but maybe there was something of the truth in there to what he was trying to tell her. "You were adopted?" Wendy asked him.

"I was dropped off at an orphanage", Arthur explained. "Penny adopted me. She never told me until now..." Arthur's bottom lip started to tremble, his body shaking. His eyes filled with tears. He drew in a sharp breath and said, "She lied to me about everything...She told me she wasn't my real mother. She told me that just before she took her last breath." Arthur lowered his face into his hands and started sobbing.

Wendy didn't know what to say or how to respond. She wanted to take away the pain Arthur was feeling, but the only thing she could think of to do for him was just to just hold him and allow him to mourn over the loss of his mother. Carefully, Wendy wrapped her arms around Arthur, who hugged her as tight as he could and buried his face into her chest. Her body felt warm against his, like she was the living embodiment of fire.

"Oh, Arthur, I'm so sorry", said Wendy, placing her hand on the back of his head. She rocked him gently, wishing she had something else to say to make him feel better.

Arthur took a shaky breath and explained through his sobs, "I tried to ask her why she never told me, but I was too late. She was gone. I didn't know where else to go. I didn't know what else to do."

"Shh, shh, shh." Wendy rubbed his back and said, "It's okay, Arthur. You don't have to explain. I'm right here, I've got you. Just stay with me. I'm here with you."

Wendy didn't know what to do. She thought back to when Arthur sang to her to cheer her up, but didn't think it would be the same for him. It was worth a try. She opened her mouth, thinking of the first song that came to her.

"_I'm...lying on the moon..._", Wendy sang, slow and softly. "_It's a dark and quiet place...I'm here with you, we're up in space...And we're a million miles away...My dear, I'll be there soon...There's things I wish I knew...My dear, I'll keep you safe. In a dark and shiny place...There's no thing I'd keep from you, my love, 'cause we're a million miles away._" Arthur continued sobbing while Wendy sang to him, but after a while, he started to calm down. Hearing her hum the rest of the song felt to Arthur like he was being comforted by a genuine motherly figure. She was very good at it, despite not being a mother herself.

Arthur had been crying genuine tears, but only because he was afraid of letting Wendy know the truth. He had to hide the fact that he murdered Penny from her. He wanted to tell her about the three subways murders, but for now, he only wanted to be with Wendy and enjoy one last time with her. For a while, they were silent. Wendy kissed the top of his head, holding Arthur in her arms as he shuddered out a breath. He was the first to speak again.

"Where did you hear that song from?"

"My father taught it to me. It was a special song we used to sing together every night before I went to sleep when I was a little girl. I was thinking back to when you sang to me the first time we met. Do you remember that?"

Arthur didn't answer her. He released himself from Wendy, looking away as rubbed his hands over his wet face. He sniffled and sighed heavily, lowering his hands into his lap.

Wendy rested her right hand on his back and asked him, "Arthur, do you want to stay here tonight?"

Arthur turned his head left to look at Wendy, staring at her with sad green eyes. The intensity of his gaze was gone. There was only vulnerability. "What would your uncle say?"

"I don't care what Jack says", Wendy told him. "If he comes back, I can handle him. I just don't think it's a good idea for you to be alone right now."

Arthur blinked and avoided her gaze again and said, "I've always been alone."

"But you're not alone", Wendy reassured him. "I'm here with you. We're together now. Everything's going to be all right. You'll see."

"I just wish I could have told her how I felt about her", said Arthur. "I didn't mind being her son all these years, but finding out the truth just hurts so fucking much."

Wendy blinked and lowered her eyes, nodding her head in understanding.

Arthur lowered his head and placed a hand over his face, saying, "Oh, God. I must be losing my mind."

Wendy took hold of his hand and said, "Arthur, don't do this to yourself. You're just going through a rough time right now. You're confused. You're sad and angry. How do you think I felt when I lost my parents? When my mother passed away five years ago, I was devastated. I know what you're going through. Your mother was old. She was sick."

Arthur shook his head and said, "You don't know the half of it, Wendy. There's more to the story than that, but I don't want to talk about it. Not tonight."

Wendy nodded again, then noticed Arthur was still trembling, probably from being so cold from being out in the rain, as well as his emotional breakdown. "Jesus, Arthur, you're shaking", she said.

Arthur blinked and looked at her again.

Wendy brushed away a wet strand of hair from his face and said, "Come on, let's get you out of these clothes."

Wendy helped Arthur to his feet and led him over to the bedroom and brought him in and shut the door, locking it behind her in case her uncle came back home. She turned and walked over to turn down the bed for the night.

While she was busy preparing the bed, Arthur went over to the window and looked down at the view of Gotham City from so high above. The rain finally died down, now turned into a light drizzle.

Arthur felt Wendy place a hand on his right shoulder and turned his body to face her.

"Do you want me to help you get undressed?" Wendy asked him. "I could run you a hot bath. Maybe get you something warm to drink."

"Why are you so good to me, Wendy?" Arthur asked her.

"Because I love you", Wendy answered. "Don't you understand that, Arthur? You're my whole world. If anything were to happen to you, my world would just crumble. I'd rather die than see you hurt like this."

"That's very nice of you to say, but half the time, I just don't think I deserve you."

"But you do. I want you to feel loved by me. You don't even have to return my feelings if you don't feel anything. I can accept being just your friend. I'd do anything to keep you in my life, Arthur, because I love you that much."

Arthur was silent for a minute, his eyes turned soft and his face lit up from the radiant glow appearing in his cheeks. For a moment, he got lost in Wendy's eyes. He could hear the heartache in her voice and she looked like she was about ready to cry. His charade of playing grief-stricken was replaced by a wave of guilt. It wasn't right what he was doing to her. All this time, he had been playing a selfish game, taking everything she had and not returning the favor in anyway. There was only one thing he could think of to make it up to her. He didn't think she would go for it, but she was probably thinking the same thing he was. The tension was thick for both of them.

Wendy was confused by the way Arthur was looking at her and asked him, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Nothing, it's just...You look beautiful", said Arthur.

Wendy's brow creased as she looked down at herself. Then she looked at him and said, "I'm not beautiful, Arthur. I look like this all the time."

"No, I mean it", Arthur confessed. "I never realized it, but you do. I've been so stupid thinking about myself, I sometimes forget to appreciate you. I know I haven't been as romantic with you as I should have, but I want you to know you're the most wonderful, amazing woman I've ever met. When I'm with you, I don't feel so depressed. When you're with me, you make me feel alive. Nobody's ever been nice to me like you have. I love you, Wendy."

Wendy's facial expression turned to one of surprise, her eyes growing wide at the mention of those three most important words a woman could ever hope to hear. "Do you really mean that?"

"I do", said Arthur.

Wendy felt tears starting to form in her eyes. Her lips tightened and she lowered her head, placing a hand over her mouth and letting out a soft gasp. She lowered her hand and looked at Arthur. "That's all I ever wanted to hear."

Arthur lowered his gaze and took hold of her hands and said, "Wendy, there's something you need to know about me."

"What is it?" Wendy asked him.

"I've never...I mean I..." Arthur halted in his speech. He blinked and looked at Wendy again and told her, "I've never been with a woman before. In bed, I mean."

"Never?" Wendy asked him.

"Only in my dreams. In my fantasies."

"Do you have fantasies about me?"

"Sometimes."

"What do you do to me?"

Arthur stared at her for a moment, then took her head gently into his hands and closed his eyes and leaned forward, kissing the corner of her mouth softly. He expected her to pull away, but Wendy didn't move. She allowed Arthur to proceed. He forced her mouth open a little bit with his tongue, earning a moan from her throat. Wendy cupped her left hand to his jawline and pressed her chest against his, hoping to deepen the kiss. She heard him moan, as well. She rested her hand on his shoulder and kissed him passionately. Her lips were warm and soft, and tasted like the sweetest wine.

Arthur broke away for air and gasped softly. He opened his eyes and looked at Wendy again. Her eyes were dazzling. Deep golden brown orbs staring up at a sparkling pair of pale green jewels.

Arthur lowered her arms down to her sides, then slowly started to unbuttoned the front of her dress. He slipped his hands into the sleeves and slid the fabric off her shoulders. The dress pooled around at her feet. Wendy wasn't wearing a bra, but she did have on a black thong. His hands went to pull her underwear down, but Wendy grabbed Arthur by his wrists and brought his hands up to her lips to kiss his knuckles, one by one.

Wendy looked at Arthur and caressed the side of his face again, then turned around and brought him over with her to the bed and sat down on the edge. Arthur remained standing and started to removed his shirt, revealing every inch of his naked, skeletal torso. Wendy stared wide-eyed at him when she saw just how skinny he was. He seemed about average built when fully dressed, but underneath those secondhand clothes, he was lean and had not much muscle on him. His ribcage practically begged to burst out of his skin. Arthur took off his shoes and socks, then hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his pants and removed them, along with his underwear, leaving himself just as naked as the day he was born. He stood up straight and looked at Wendy, seeing her worried expression. For a moment, he felt embarrassed, but the thought quickly faded from his mind.

Wendy laid down flat just as Arthur came over and straddled her in bed. He leaned over her and came forward to kiss her on her lips again. He kissed along her jawline, then on her neck. Wendy kept her eyes closed, turning her head to the left and letting a pleasurable moan escape from her throat. Arthur placed a hand on her breast and squeezed it gently. His thumb stroked over her nipple, feeling it prick up against his touch. His hand trailed all the way down her stomach until it reached her thong-covered crouch. His fingers prodded against the satin fabric, causing Wendy to arch her back and let out a breathless moan. His touch was driving her crazy, making her melt from want and desire. Arthur tried to take off her underwear again. Wendy lifted herself up a bit to help him take them off easier. Arthur pulled them down achingly slow, then tossed the thong aside and looked down at the space between her legs, seeing the most vulnerable and sensitive part of her body surrounded by a thin crop of red hair. He could already smell her arousal.

With great care, Arthur pinched the pretty little nub that was her clitoris between his index and middle finger, causing Wendy to moan louder and feel a slight wave of pleasure.

"Does this hurt you?" Arthur asked her, his voice husky and seductive.

Wendy shook her head and answered, "No. It feels wonderful."

Arthur leaned forward and lowered his head down to her private area, wrapping his right arm around her left leg, which was slightly bent at the knee. He kissed her gently between her legs, tasting her sweet nectar. Wendy moaned in pleasure, her heart racing with ecstasy. She wanted him inside her now, but Arthur wasn't done with her yet. His tongue licked at her clitoris and pushed itself into her a little bit, making her wet. Wendy gasped at the powerful sensation and grabbed Arthur by his hair, tangling her fingers into his long, dark brown locks. His hair was still a little damp from the rain, but she didn't care.

"Arthur, I want you inside me", Wendy breathed out.

Arthur stopped his assault of her vagina and sat up straight and looked down at her. He wiped off her juices with the back of his hand and leaned over her again to kiss her lips.

"How badly do you want me, Wendy?" Arthur whispered into her ear.

"Bad", Wendy whined. The heat of his shaft burned against the inside of her leg, the undisclosed desire overwhelming the urge to plunge himself into her slick opening.

Arthur kissed the corner of her mouth and said, "You taste so wonderful. How does it feel for you to be my slave?"

"Arthur, please", Wendy begged him, tears spilling from the corners of her eyes.

Arthur chuckled and said, "I like hearing you beg. Say it again, Wendy."

"Arthur, I need you", Wendy pleaded, desperately. "I want all of you inside me."

"That's all you had to say."

Arthur slowly thrust himself into her, causing a short breath to withdraw from her parted lips. Wendy moaned again and clawed at his back, feeling the shoulder blades underneath his fragile, delicate skin. She wrapped her legs around his bony hips while still being careful not to hurt him. Arthur breathed heavy on top of her, slowly pulling out and pushing himself all the way back in again. As much as he wanted to fuck her, he still didn't want to hurt her either. He never knew how much it could mean to have someone truly love him, let alone have sex with him. As much as he fantasized about the experience, he never thought in his life that he would ever be in bed with a woman. Wendy was more experienced than him, but he had a pretty good idea on how it was supposed to play out. His heart was on fire and just the sight of seeing her nakedness was enough to make his dick hard.

They shared the same rhythm, becoming one with each other as they gave themselves over to each other's fantasy. Arthur started to sweat, on the edge of coming inside Wendy. Her skin felt good and achingly soft against his own, her naked body pressing against his chest. He sped up the process, penetrating her deep inside until she began to see a galaxy of stars dance across her darkened vision. Pretty soon, they both came together.

A loud cry of ecstasy came from both of them. Arthur shuddered with a gasp and released his hot seed into Wendy, giving himself over to her. His muscles tightened up, his body tensed, then slowly, he allowed himself to relax. All that pleasure that had been building up inside him for over forty years was finally getting released. Once his cock turned soft, Arthur carefully pulled himself out of Wendy and laid his head down on her naked chest, still breathing hard and rapidly. He rested his eyes for a bit. His face was covered with sweat. He licked his lips and tasted salt.

Wendy held Arthur in her arms and placed a hand on the back of his head, running her fingers through his hair and kissing the top of his head before pressing her cheek on top of it.

"Did I hurt you?" Arthur asked her.

"No", Wendy answered. "You were amazing. Did I hurt you?"

"No."

"How did you feel?"

"I've never felt anything like that. It was like I was with you some place else just now."

"I know it's been a rough few weeks for you, but I think you needed this. And so did I", Wendy admitted. "I'm glad I was your first."

"I love you, Wendy", Arthur whispered.

"I love you, too", said Wendy.

Five minutes later, Arthur fell asleep. Wendy turned him over carefully onto his back without waking him and looked at him for a while, lightly tracing her fingertips against his lower lip. He looked so peaceful. Wendy kissed him softly, then sat up for a moment and found a blanket and used it to cover him with it before lying down next to Arthur. Pretty soon, the sweet embrace of sleep took over her. Nothing disturbed them the rest of the night.


	24. Chapter 24

The sun grew over the city, bringing light into a new day. The night had ended. The dream world faded away and went over to the other side of the globe, waiting for another chance to bring darkness back into Gotham City.

Arthur turned over in his sleep, placing his right hand on the pillow beneath his head. He opened his eyes and found himself lying in a comfortable bed in another apartment. He remembered last night's sexual encounter and turned his head, looking over his left shoulder and sitting up. He stared down at Wendy's sleeping form lying next to him. Her back was facing him. Arthur stared at her for a while, then threw the blanket off of him and placed his feet on the floor. He breathed through his nose, then stood up and went to gather his clothes from off the floor and got dressed. He hated to leave Wendy without saying goodbye, but he had important business to take care off. Before he left, Arthur turned around and looked at Wendy and went over to her side of the bed. He knelt down and placed a hand on top of her head, stroking her hair. His hand brushed lightly against her soft, pink lips with just the tips of his fingers. She didn't rouse.

"Please forgive me, Wendy", Arthur whispered to her. He cupped his hand to her face and placed a kiss on her forehead, then stood up and left the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

Arthur went out into the living room and went over to the front door to retrieve his jacket, but just as he started to put it on, he heard a familiar voice asking him, "Were you gentle with her?"

Arthur froze, his eyes grew wide in horror. He turned around slowly and found it was Jack Napier. He was leaning against the wall, shuffling a deck of cards.

"You know, sometimes I worry about my niece", said Jack. "But then again, she's old enough to make her own decisions. Were you kind to her or did you treat her like a whore?"

"Excuse me?" Arthur asked him.

"Just tell me the truth, son", said Jack, still shuffling his lucky deck. "Did you kiss her like she's the most beautiful girl in the world? Did you treat her like a woman? Did you pet her little red beaver?"

"I don't feel comfortable talking about this", said Arthur, not liking the way he spoke about Wendy.

"Don't be so modest, Arthur. We both know you've never fucked a woman in your entire goddamn life. Now I just want to know one thing. Did you enjoy it? Do you feel ashamed?"

Arthur was starting to get angry, but kept his cool and asked him calmly, "What if I said no?"

Jack pocketed his lucky deck and said, "Well, then, I'd say you weren't such a loser after all. No man can resist that little bit of red meat and not say they weren't ashamed about it. Wendy seems to like you a lot, but to me, you're just another freak. You want to fuck her, that's fine. But don't ever let me catch you around here again. If she wasn't so crazy about you, I'd tear your head off."

"Then what's stopping you?" Arthur questioned him.

Jack gave him an evil smirk and answered, "It's not everyday a man comes home to find his niece naked in bed with another man. Did you remember to lock the door on your way out?"

Arthur didn't like the sound of that. His face darkened with vengeance and he said in a quiet, threatening voice, "If you touch Wendy, I'll fucking crucify you."

"Relax, kid. It's not like I'm gonna bash her brains in or anything. I'm just gonna remind her how we do things here in Gotham. Maybe I ought to teach her a lesson the hard way, if you know what I mean."

Arthur was about ready to lunge at Jack, but the mobster pulled out his gun and pointed it at him. Arthur backed up, but kept his death glare on Jack.

"Don't do anything stupid, Arthur", Jack warned him. "You know better than to mess with me. Who do you think got you out of that shithole prison in the first place? You know you never even said thank you? Sounds to me like Mommy never taught you any manners."

"I have no mother", said Arthur, darkly. "I never did. Everything she ever told me was a lie. And I don't have to tell you anything. What are you going to do to Wendy?"

"I'll let the little woman live, but you might not want her by the time I'm done with her tomorrow night."

"I'm going on Murray Franklin's show tomorrow night. After I'm done with him, I'm coming back here and I'm going to kill you. If I'm going to Hell, I might as well drag you down there with me."

"You flatter yourself", said Jack, reaching for the door and opening it, but still keeping his eyes on Arthur and aiming his gun at him. "Now get the hell out of here, son. You're using up all my oxygen."

Arthur stepped toward the door, still glaring at Jack, a devilish and untrustworthy aura surrounding him like a cloud of toxic masculinity. He didn't know much about the criminal underworld, but he knew they were not a force to be reckoned with. Soon as he was out the door, Arthur heard it slam behind him and turned his head. He heard the door lock from the inside. He was afraid to leave Wendy alone, but he had other important matters to attend to. Much more important. Wendy was strong enough to handle her uncle on her own, he was sure of it, but if he was wrong and Jack laid so much as a finger on her, Arthur would make sure he was sorry.

* * *

On his way back home, Arthur stopped at a beauty supply store and purchased a box of green hair dye. He didn't know why he did that, but something told him he should give himself a new look before going on the Murray Franklin Show tomorrow night. Soon as he got back to the apartment, Arthur locked the door and went into the bathroom, setting the box of hair dye next to the sink before stripping out of his clothes. He took a shower and dried off and gave himself a shave and combed his hair back, then went into the bedroom. He got dressed in his white button up shirt and maroon-colored pants with the matching vest and black dress shoes.

Arthur decided to do a little roleplay and took the bedsheet from the bedroom and hung it up over the archway between the front door and the living room. He went to great lengths to make sure everything was perfect, even going so far as to write '_Live With Murray Franklin_' on a coffee mug. He opened a cassette case containing a recording of one of the episodes of the Murray Franklin Show and stuck it into the VCR and pressed the play button. He studied the video tapes he had recorded over the years, watching the guest stars and studying their mannerisms. Though he knew most of the episodes by heart, Arthur still wanted to recap and practice how to address the talk show host and learn how to behave on the show. He had to learn how to act normal. Two hours later, he was ready to practice his introduction.

Taking a drag from his cigarette, Arthur set it down into the ashtray on the coffee table and stood up and went to hide behind the bedsheet curtain. He fixed his hair and listened for Murray's announcement on the tape and came out as soon as the music started playing. He walked out from behind the makeshift curtain and waved to the invisible crowd before turning to the air and leaning back as though he were acknowledging Murray. He walked over to the couch and turned and waved again before taking a seat. He ran his hands through his hair and leaned back, draping his right arm over the back of the couch. He turned his head to the empty chair on his left and practiced how he was going to talk to Murray.

"Hey, Murray. Thanks for inviting-" His voice croaked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Hey, Murray. Thanks for...Thank you so much for inviting me on the show. I've been a big fan of...Hey, Murray. Thanks for invite-" Arthur sighed in exasperation and rested his head against his fist. "Jesus Christ, that's not right either", he mumbled, his left leg bouncing slightly. He couldn't find the right words, and he was even more concerned about what he should wear. Should he dress formal or keep it casual? Would a suit be too much? When he sat down, should he have his legs spread open? Or have one leg draped over the other? Maybe keep his knees together? It was all nerve-wrecking.

"I'm sorry. What's that?" Arthur asked the invisible host to his left. He chuckled and said, "That's very funny, Murray. You know, I'm a comedian, too. Would you like to hear a joke?"

The recorded applause from the video tape gave him his answer. "Oh, yeah?" Arthur asked the crowd. "You would? Okay." He looked at his journal sitting next to him and gathered himself before addressing to the audience, "Knock knock!" He reached for the gun tucked down the front of his pants and tried to pull it out, but the damn thing got caught and he fumbled the attempt. The audience on the tape gasped, though it could have been the voices Arthur heard inside his head. He finally managed to pull the gun out and then stuck it back down his pants, wanting to try again and get it right.

Arthur turned his attention over to the empty chair again and laughed softly. The audience sighed in relief and laughed with him. He tilted his head back and said, "Hey. Knock knock." This time, Arthur pulled the revolver out with success and positioned the barrel underneath his chin. He pulled the trigger, clicking the empty chamber and throwing his head back dramatically. He flipped the gun into the air and laid there as though he were dead. His legs slumped. The audience burst into applause as Arthur laughed quietly at his own joke.

* * *

Wendy decided to take the bus for a change and got off at a bus stop three blocks away from Grimaldi's Diner. She walked down the boulevard on her way to work and came to a street corner and waited to cross. While she waited, Wendy had an uneasy feeling she was being watched. She turned her head and looked over her left shoulder and saw a sinister-looking man with dirty light brown hair and steely blue eyes leaning against the doorway of a liquor store. He was staring right at her. He had a mustache and his face was stubbled. His hands were inside his pockets. He looked like a bum. Wendy had seen him once before. His name was Joe Chill.

Looking away, Wendy crossed over to Keaton Street. She tried to ignore the feeling she was being followed and not look back, but glanced over her left shoulder again and saw Joe was following her. Wendy looked forward and started to walk as fast as she could down the sidewalk. She couldn't get very far wearing high heels, and she wasn't about to take them off and go running down the street in bare feet. She tried to lose him, but the man kept on pursuing her. She was now starting to think Joe was sent for her by Jack Napier. She hoped he didn't have a gun hidden inside his pocket.

To avoid confrontation, Wendy turned to a door on her right and went into a pizza restaurant. She looked around the place, seeing it was only about half-full. There was a man and a woman sitting in a booth, two men sitting at the bar talking and drinking beer, and what appeared to be a birthday party near the play area. There was a clown entertaining the children. A very small clown wearing a colorful polka dot suit and fuzzy blue wig.

Wendy turned her head and looked out the door to see if Joe was still following her, but she couldn't see him anymore. She thought about walking out and leaving, but then she looked back over at the small clown, who walked over to the mother of the child who was having the party and told her he was going on a break. Wendy had no idea who he was, but something told her she should go over and talk to him. Maybe he worked for the same clown agency that Arthur used to. Perhaps he could tell her something she was curious to know about him.

The small clown walked over and took a seat at the bar and asked the bartender behind the counter, "Excuse me? Could I have a root beer, please?"

Wendy came over and took a seat to his left. "Make that two", she said, handing two dollars over to the bartender to pay for the drinks.

The small clown looked at the auburn-haired woman. The bartender took the money and left to retrieve their beverages. Wendy turned her attention over to the small clown and offered him a friendly smile. "Hi."

The small clown smiled in return and said in a British accent, "Hello."

"Let me guess. You work for Ha-Ha's Talent Booking, right?" Wendy asked him.

"Yeah, that's right", he answered.

"I thought so." She offered him her hand and said, "I'm Wendy."

The small clown shook her hand and told her, "I'm Gary. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too."

The bartender came back with two root beers and then walked away to tend to his other customers.

Wendy took a small sip of her root beer and asked, "You wouldn't happen to know Arthur Fleck, would you?"

Gary looked at her and answered, "Yeah, I know Arthur. He used to work for the same clown agency as I do. I haven't seen him around lately, though. How's he been?"

"Not too good, I'm afraid. His mother just passed away yesterday."

"What happened?"

"She suffered a stroke over the weekend. Arthur told me he went to see her yesterday morning and she took her last breath. It's terrible."

Gary looked away and said, "It's a real shame. She was a good woman. I didn't know her too well, but she seemed all right."

"How long have you known Arthur?" Wendy asked him.

"About five years, give or take", Gary answered, taking a drink of root beer. "We never saw each other aside from work. But he's a good man, he is. He's never showed me any harm, but he does have a serious condition."

"You mean his laughing condition?"

"Yes, but he doesn't mean it. It's just the way he is."

Wendy blinked and set her drink aside, resting her arms on the counter and asking Gary, "So, why was he fired? Do you know?"

"Our boss told me Arthur was fired for bringing a gun to a children's hospital", said Gary.

Wendy raised her eyebrows at him, suspiciously. "A real gun?"

"Arthur said it was a prop. The hospital complained and told Hoyt what happened. He's the man who runs the agency. Arthur came by the next morning to collect his things and that was the last time I heard or saw him."

"What day was he fired again?"

"Last week on Wednesday, the 21st", Gary answered.

Wendy looked away and made a quick calculation in her head. If what Gary said was true, then today was the 29th of October. That was eight days ago. It also happened to be the exact number of days those subway murders took place. The subway murders happened on the very same day Arthur was fired. It had to be a coincidence.

"That's not possible", Wendy muttered to herself.

"Sorry?" Gary asked her.

Wendy looked at him again and said, "Well, I mean, it's ridiculous. Arthur's as harmless and innocent as a baby lamb. He would never do anything to..."

Gary waited for her to continue, not having a clue as to what she was talking about.

Wendy shook her head and told him, "Nothing. Forget I mentioned it." She took another sip of root beer and decided to change the subject and asked Gary, "Does he ever go out with friends?"

"Arthur doesn't really have any friends", Gary answered. "Everyone mistreats him just because he's different. I've dealt with a similar thing because of my height, but it doesn't hurt me. I just tell people to bugger off."

Wendy chuckled at the small man's remark, but then her smile faded and she gave off a look of discomfort. She let out a soft moan, placing a hand on her throat and feeling as though she were about to throw up.

Gary noticed her face starting to turn pale and asked her with concern, "Hey, are you okay?"

Wendy shook her head and lowered her hand, feeling the nausea fade away a little bit. "Yeah", she answered. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Suddenly, there came an explosion from outside. Wendy jumped in her seat and looked to her left. She heard people screaming and got up and walked over to the door and stepped outside. People were standing on the sidewalk, screaming and panicking. Wendy's eyes grew wide and she let out a gasp when she saw what had happened. There was a movie theater across the street that looked as though it had been gone up in flames.

"Holy shit, man!" Said a bearded black man who witnessed the scene of the crime.

"Yo, did you see that?" His friend asked.

"What happened?" Wendy asked them.

"Smoke bomb!" The bearded black man answered. "A gang of clowns just went in and set the whole fucking place on fire!"

Gary came outside to see what all the excitement was about and stood next to Wendy, seeing more than a dozen people come running out of the theater wearing clowns masks and destroying everything. One of them took a baseball bat and started smashing the ticket booth. Wendy flinched when she saw that happen, but thankfully, nobody was inside it. She hoped nobody got hurt or died while inside the theater. An ambulance drove by, the siren blaring loudly. Wendy could have sworn she saw a person wearing a clown mask driving it. She looked down at Gary, who looked up at her with equal bits of worry and concern. She looked back at the theater in despair. The people of Gotham were starting to turn crazy. This city was getting way too dangerous.

* * *

Travis took the night off from driving the taxi and stayed home, thinking about the pretty redhead and her much older lover. At the moment, he was sitting on the couch, watching the news and eating from a jar of applesauce. His face was blank and he wasn't really listening to what the good news or bad news was. It was all the same to him. He set the jar on the small table next to him and stood up. He turned the TV off and went into the kitchen and opened a drawer, taking out three steak knives. He went back into the living room and stood two feet away from the newspaper hanging up on the wall. Several newspaper clippings were on the wall next to it, but the one he had his eyes set on was the recent headline that had a drawing of a scary-looking clown on it. Something disturbed him about the ongoing clown protests and riots. The city was getting dangerous everyday. He wasn't sure he could take much more of the violent nature of Gotham. Taking the first knife, Travis threw it and hit the clown drawing dead smack in the neck, then threw another knife, this time striking it in the left eye socket. Throwing the last knife, Travis hit the clown drawing right in the middle of its forehead.

Travis went over and sat down at the table next to the window and opened his journal. He wrote in straight, disciplined lines:

_October 29th_

_I can't stop thinking about her. Or him. Something seems to be eating away at him, but I didn't bother to ask. Maybe I should have. Wendy would know for sure. She's been seeing him for about a week now. I see Arthur going through the same thing I did back in New York five years ago. I don't know what he's going through, but I pray to God he doesn't do anything to hurt her or himself._

Travis set his pencil down and closed his journal. He stood up and picked up a box of cigarettes, taking one out and placing it between his lips as he picked up a lighter and lit the tip. He inhaled and removed the cigarette, breathing out smoke as he turned and looked out the window, staring out into the night and listening to the noise of Gotham City. People shouting, cars honking, random sounds of no particular concern or interest to him.

* * *

Later that night, about two in the morning, Wendy tossed and turned in bed, moaning in discomfort. She woke up not feeling very well and sat up at once, wrapping an arm around her abdomen and thinking she was having a stomach cramp. She felt a wave of nausea coming up and threw the blanket off her and quickly ran to the bathroom, dropping down to her knees and grabbing the bowl of the toilet. She threw up and waited for it to pass and sat there for a moment, heaving up and shaking. She coughed and wiped her mouth as soon as she was finished and flushed the toilet. She stood up slowly and went over to the sink and placed a hand under the faucet. She turned it on and brought some water to her lips, swishing it in her mouth and spitting it back out. She repeated the same action a couple more times until the acid taste washed out of her mouth.

Wendy turned the faucet off and placed her hands on the counter and stood there with her head bowed, crying. Her body trembled. She sniffled and slowly lifted her head up and looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was pale, the color gone from her cheeks. A thought occurred to her why she was suddenly feeling so sick. She thought about Arthur and the other night he slept with her, her eyes growing wide at the realization. She placed both hands on her stomach, fearing the possibility that she might be expecting a new arrival in little less than a year.

Wendy walked back into the bedroom and was about to get back into bed, but looked over at the door and saw it was slightly opened. She didn't remember leaving it like that. She walked over to close it and heard her uncle talking to somebody on the phone. She heard him mention the name Carl and opened the door just a tiny bit more to hear what he was saying.

"Don't worry about it, Grissom. I'll have Joe take care of Thomas Wayne tomorrow night. Besides, he needs the money...Wayne's wife and kid?...Nah, screw 'em. What's three more dead people in Gotham to us anyway?"

Wendy gasped in horror, putting a hand to her mouth. Jack Napier was putting a contract on the Wayne family? How could he do such a monstrous thing? Wendy understood nobody liked Thomas Wayne by this point, but that was no excuse to kill him, or his wife and child. Thomas Wayne was just a billionaire and philanthropist. What harm did he ever do to him? It wasn't Thomas Wayne's fault that Gotham City was in a depression. It was the whole fucking system's fault. Something needed to be done, but Wendy didn't know what to do. If she went to the cops, that crooked Lieutenant Eckhardt would tell Jack and then Jack would kill her. She felt trapped.


	25. Chapter 25

The next morning, Wendy took a taxi to the nearest pharmacy and told Travis to wait for her while she went in real quick to look for something. She walked in and searched down the aisle, looking for the answer to her nausea problem. She scanned the shelf of different brands and checked each one for the best results, selecting three in the end.

There was a young Korean man behind the counter reading a magazine when Wendy walked up to pay for her items and placed them down on the counter. "I'll take all three", she told him, clearly in a hurry.

The Korean man offered her a friendly smile and and rang up her items. "That'll be $19.89, ma'am", he said.

Wendy took out a twenty while he stuffed the three boxes into a white paper bag. She slipped him the money and told him, "Keep the change", snatching the bag away as quickly as she could and hurrying out the door.

"You're welcome", the Korean man called out.

Wendy walked out and got back into the taxi, slamming the door. Travis turned his head and looked at her. "Where to now?"

"Take me home", Wendy told him abruptly, rocking herself back and forth anxiously.

Travis gave her a suspicious look and said, "Listen, Wendy, I know you got a lot on your mind right now, but I've been meaning to ask you about-"

"Just drive!" Wendy snapped at him.

Travis raised his hands and told her, "All right, all right. Just take it easy." He looked away and started the cab up and drove down the road.

Wendy looked out the back left window for a bit, then stopped rocking herself and looked at the white paper bag she was holding. She opened it and eyed the three different boxes she purchased, hoping they would work.

Travis glanced at Wendy in the rearview mirror and risked talking to her again, being that she was in such a bad mood. He figured she was on the rag or something. "Hey, you sure you're okay? You don't look so hot."

Wendy looked forward and asked him, "What?"

Travis paid his attention back on the road ahead of him and said, "You just seem kind of upset about something."

"I'm not upset, I'm fine", Wendy reassured him.

Travis turned his head to look back at her and then looked forward again. "Look, I wasn't tryin' to get into your business or anything. I'm just talkin' to talk, you know?"

Wendy leaned forward and said, "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Travis. I'm just scared about what's happening in this city. I'm debating whether I should leave or not. I'd like to, but then I'd be leaving you and Arthur behind."

"Look, don't worry about me", said Travis. "I can take care of myself. I'm a survivor, remember? That's what I do. If that's the way you feel about this city, I get it. You're scared, you wanna get out of here as soon as possible before it goes to shit and gets any worse. These people here are nuts, anyway. I don't think I can take much more of this shit myself, you know? I think Arthur would follow you anywhere if you asked him to. I know his mother just passed away, but I think he could use a new start in life. I think you and him should just go somewhere far away from Gotham City and pretend this whole fucking clown thing never happened."

Wendy considered Travis' advice about her situation and said, "You might be right about that."

"I'm not saying I'm right or wrong about anything", said Travis. "I don't know much about everything, but I do know I just want you and Arthur to be happy. He told me last night he's tried so hard to be happy all the time, but I think it's because he's lonely. I think all three of us have that in common. We live hard lives and people give us crap because of it, but we go on with our lives and try to make the best of it. That's life, I guess."

* * *

Meanwhile, Arthur was leaning over the bathroom sink, standing there in only his underwear. He looked in the mirror, his hair dripping with water and green hair dye. Arthur had the radio on while he applied more of the emerald green liquid to his head, listening to the ever popular tune of _That's Life_ by Frank Sinatra. The hair dye ran down part of his face, landing on his shoulders and rolling down his back, as well as his chest. Massaging the burning chemical substance into his scalp, Arthur rinsed his hair in the sink and repeated the same process several more times, watching his reflection dance along with him while the song continued playing. He started dancing around the bathroom in his now green-stained underwear, thrusting his hips and shaking his head. His wet hair hung down like dark seaweed. He was celebrating his new-found freedom and acceptance of who he was starting to become, his alter ego that gave him so much confidence. Arthur continued moving his body to the jazzy rhythm still playing on the radio and danced his wire-thin frame back over to the bathroom mirror.

Once his hair was dry enough and almost completely green, Arthur went into the bedroom and sat down at the vanity. The radio continued playing songs as he painted the white grease makeup onto his face, using a plastic clown mask that was hanging on the corner as a reference. His shoulders, chest, and back were stained pale green from the hair dye that dripped down from his head earlier. The smell of paint and hair dye chemicals excited him on a new level, practically given him a boner as he thought about tonight.

Arthur gathered more paint with the brush, using soft, delicate, strokes to paint across his right cheek and along his lower lip. Sticking his tongue out, he painted the top part of his tongue, then smoked from his cigarette and tasted the toxic combination without any sign of disgust. He did this while listening to the song _Bennie and the Jets_ by Elton John. Arthur blew the intoxicating vapors out through his nose like a smoking dragon and glanced up at a picture nestled in the upper left corner of the mirror. He took it down to look at it more closely and discovered it was an old black and white photograph of Penny when she was a young woman. He turned the picture over and saw a handwritten message on the back. _Love your smile, T.W._ He recognized it as her own handwriting. _Crazy,_ f_ucked-up bitch_, Arthur thought to himself, crumbling up the picture in his hand.

Once the song faded, Arthur turned the radio off and opened a drawer and found an old pair of rusty scissors. He picked them up and looked at them. _I wonder if I should castrate myself in the bathtub and write a message on the wall in my own blood. That would be an interesting sight,_ Arthur thought to himself. Thankfully, his twisted thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing of the doorbell. Arthur looked over his shoulder, wondering who was at the door. He set the scissors down and stood up, picking up his dark blue sweatpants from off the bed and putting them on. He grabbed the scissors and stuck them into his back pocket, just in case. The buzzer rang again.

"Coming!" Arthur shouted, walking out of the bedroom and going to answer the door. He looked through the peephole, half-expecting to see the pretty face of Wendy standing outside the door, but it wasn't her.

Arthur unlatched the chain and unlocked the door and opened it, seeing the unwelcoming sight of Randall staring back at him. Anger started to surface in Arthur's heart and he felt like striking him while the iron was still hot.

"Hey, Arthur", said a familiar, accented voice. Looking down, Arthur discovered it was Gary. "How's it going?"

Arthur quickly replaced his rage with a friendly smile and told them, "Hey, guys. Come on in." He opened the door all the way and let them both inside.

"Did you get a new gig?" Gary asked him.

"No", Arthur answered, taking a drag from his cigarette.

"Oh, then you must be going down to that rally tonight at City Hall", said Randall. "I hear it's gonna be nuts."

Arthur closed the door, then latched the security chain and turned around to face his two ex-coworkers and asked innocently, "Oh, is that today? I didn't know."

"Yeah", Randall answered. He pointed to his own face and asked, "What's with the makeup then?"

Arthur leaned sideways against the archway and smoked from his cigarette, placing a hand on his left hip and breathing smoke out his nostrils. "My mom died", he answered, flatly. "I'm celebrating."

Randall nodded and said, "Yeah, we heard. That's why we're here." He turned to Gary and said, "We thought you could use a bit of cheering up."

Gary showed Arthur a bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag and told him, "We didn't want to bother you, but Randall thought we should come by and pay our respects."

"That's sweet", said Arthur. "But, no. I feel good about it, actually. I also stopped taking my medication. I feel a lot better now." He looked over towards Randall's direction as he finished that last sentence.

"Right, well, good for you", Randall told him.

Arthur nodded in agreement, taking another drag.

"Well, listen, the cops have been coming around the shop", Randall mentioned. "They're, uh, talking to all the guys about those subway murders and, uh, I was wondering..."

Arthur ignored half of what Randall was telling him, zoning out as he looked over to his left and doused his cigarette on the wall, drawing a crude circle and turning it into a smiley face with the burning end.

Gary looked up at Randall with confusion and said, "They didn't talk to me."

"That's because the suspect was a regular-sized person", Randall told him. "If it was a fucking midget, you'd be in jail right now."

Arthur placed his hands on both sides of the archway, leaning forward as he let out a fake, high-pitched laugh as a warning sign for him to back off. He lowered his head and stood there like that while Randall continued.

"Anyway, Hoyt said that they talked to you and, uh, now there, uh, looking for me, and, uh..."

Arthur hunched his shoulders, tensing his body and lifting his head up a bit, titling it over to one side. He stared menacingly at Randall like a ravenous scavenger bird ready to feast on a carcass.

"I just wanna know what you said. You know, make sure our stories line up. And since, you know, bein' that you're my boy and everything-"

"No, I get it", said Arthur, standing up straight and nodding his head. He reached a hand behind his back and said, "It's important, right? Thank you for that, Randall...Thank you for throwing me under the fucking bus!"

Pulling out the scissors, Arthur stabbed the side of Randall's neck, blood spraying out as the heavy-set man yelled in pain. Gary screamed in terror and back away into a corner, dropping the bottle.

"Arthur, no!" Gary shouted. "Don't!"

Arthur pulled the scissors out and struck Randall in his left eye socket, grabbing hold of him and slamming his head hard against the wall. Gary continued to scream in protest. Arthur slammed Randall's head against the wall about ten times, staining it crimson and taking all his frustration out on the man who fucked up his life and got him fired in the first place. Blood splattered at one point across Arthur's face and chest, but he never noticed.

Releasing the dead man and letting his body slump over on the ground, Arthur turned and leaned his back against the blood-stained wall, sliding down to sit on the floor. He closed his eyes and took a minute to catch his breath.

"Why would you do that, Arthur?!" Gary sobbed, whimpering and shaking with fear. This wasn't the man he used to feel sorry for. This was a monster.

Soon as he mellowed out, Arthur opened his eyes and looked at Gary, asking him, "Do you watch the Murray Franklin Show? I'm gonna be on tonight."

Gary didn't move or speak. He just stood there hidden in the corner, like a frightened child or a wounded puppy.

"It fuckin' crazy, innit?" Arthur asked him, imitating a cockney accent. "Can you imagine it, Gareth? Me on the telly?"

Gary shook his head, tears running down his face as he muttered under his breath, "What the fuck, Arthur?...What the fuck?..."

"What?" Arthur asked him, returning back to his normal voice and not seeing what the big deal was. He smiled and laughed a little and said, "It's okay, Gary. You can go. I'm not gonna hurt you."

Gary stepped forward reluctantly and glanced over at Randall's corpse, letting out another anguish sob at the sight of the dead man's body on the bloody floor.

"Don't look", said Arthur, softly. "Just go."

Gary was scared to do so. As much as he wanted to leave and erase the horrible thing he just witnessed, he had just that much more of a reason to be afraid of Arthur, whose face twisted itself into a horrifying snarl.

Gary walked with caution as he headed over towards Arthur, who thought he should give the small man one last scare. He pretended to lunge and reach his hands out towards Gary, yelling ferociously.

Gary sobbed again and ran over to the door and tried to open it, but the chain locked above him prevented him from leaving. He tried to reach for the chain, but he was much too short. He cursed under his breath, sniffling and sighing in defeat. Gary tensed up as he turned around and looked back at his crazy and deranged ex-coworker.

"Hey, Arthur?" Gary asked him, nervously.

"Hmm?" Arthur looked at him, his face blank as ever.

"Arthur, could you get the...the lock?" Gary asked him, timidly.

Arthur lowered his head and breathed out an embarrassed laugh, blushing underneath the splattered mess of red and white on his face. "Sorry, Gary", he said. Arthur got up off the floor and went over to unlock the chain and open the door to let Gary out. He opened the door just a tiny bit, then looked down at the small man, who found the floor to be a much more interesting sight at the moment.

"Gary?"

"Yeah?"

Arthur closed the door and said to him in a sad voice, "You were the only one at work that was ever nice to me." Gary looked up at him. Arthur then bent over and planted a gentle kiss onto the small man's forehead.

"Get out", said Arthur, opening the door again. This time, he meant it.

Gary lowered his head and walked out of the apartment. Soon as he left, Arthur closed the door and latched the chain again, then turned and blew a breath out through his pursed lips. He looked at his blood-stained hand, then glanced down at Randall's corpse. He walked over and knelt down and took out the dead man's wallet, taking the money out of it. He tossed the empty wallet aside, then stood up and left the body there to be found later. He had to finish getting ready for tonight. First, he had to touch up his makeup again.


	26. Chapter 26

Later that afternoon, Arthur Fleck stepped out of his apartment for the last time. He walked down the hall and pushed the button for the elevator. The doors opened and he stepped inside, turning around all dressed up from head to toe in a fancy red suit and clown makeup, his emerald green hair slicked back. He smiled just as the doors closed. He found his way out of the building, dancing along to the rock and roll music playing in his head. He headed on down the perilous flight of stairs he used to dread every single day of his life, still dancing to the rhythm of his own tune. Embracing his new persona, Arthur no longer felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. Now he was dancing happily and fluidly, turning his body and thrusting his hips. He tap-danced on the stairs, jumping down a step or two and kicking up his leg. He jumped again and spun in the air, landing on the next step down. He pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and lit up, tilting his head back as he blew smoke out of both his nostrils.

From now on, there was to be a new king in town, one who would no longer hold regard for the rules or regulations of society. This new identity of his was wild and untamed, his elegant frame draped in arrogance and insanity.

Detectives Garrity and Burke were watching from the top of the stairs, sharing a confused look at the sight of the man they had been trying to question over the last few days. "Arthur, we need to talk!" Burke called down to him.

Arthur turned around and looked up at the top of the stairs, seeing the two detectives. He removed the cigarette from his mouth and quickly deposed of it, then started running down the rest of the stairs. The two detectives ran after him, shouting for him top stop. Turning a corner, Arthur ran down the sidewalk of 174th Street, bumping into another person wearing a clown mask. He bolted across the street to escape and ran right into the front of an oncoming taxi cab. He crashed onto the windshield, shattering it in the process. His body rolled over the hood and he fell down into the street.

"Stop, Arthur!" Burke called out.

Arthur recovered quickly and got back up. He started running again, stopping monetarily to turn around and flip off the two detectives. He turned around and took off running down 18th Avenue and went up a flight of stairs that led to the elevated train station. He got on the train just before the doors closed. Arthur stood in the middle of the train car, which was packed shoulder to shoulder with protesters. Most of them were wearing clown masks, but some of them had their faces painted similar to Arthur's. Half of them were holding signs. They were all heading down to City Hall for the rally.

"Stop the fucking train!" Garrity shouted, as he and Burke ran up onto the platform and started banging on the door. The door opened and the two detectives got on the train just before it started moving.

Arthur made his way through the crowd and moved out of the train car and went into the next one, which was also filled with clown protesters. The lights flickered once.

Garrity and Burke started searching for Arthur, ordering the crowd to remove their masks. The crowd just ignored them, screaming and shouting obscenities at the two detectives.

Arthur moved through the crowd and went into the next train car. The two detectives were hot on his trail. He knew he couldn't avoid them forever and he was running out of room. He needed a new plan. Looking to his left, Arthur removed a clown mask from off the face of a random protester, only to discover that it was Mark Leto. He didn't recognized him, but Mark still pushed Arthur back, causing him to bump into another protester, who lunged at Mark and started hitting him in the face. Soon, a fight broke out among the clowns. Arthur put the clown mask on, blending in with the rest of the crowd.

Garrity and Burke came into the train car and pushed their way through the crowd, trying to get everybody to calm down while they searched for their quarry.

"Gotham PD! Stand down!" Garrity shouted over the crowd.

Arthur looked to his left, trying to find a way out and not get caught. The best he could do was to stay hidden toward the very back of the train and wait for the next stop to get off.

The two detectives continued to shove their way through the crowd, shouting and yelling for everybody to get down, but the clowns ignored them and continued fighting with each other.

When the clown protesters still refused to cooperate, Detective Burke pulled out his gun as a warning and shouted over the chaotic outbreak, "Gotham PD! Get down! Get the fuck down!"

The two detectives went over to try and break up the fight. Mark grabbed Detective Burke by his arm and tried to take the gun from him. They both struggled. The lights flickered, sending everything into total darkness. The gun fired by accident. The lights came back on. Mark Leto had been shot. He fell down to the floor and died instantly from the gunshot wound inflicted on him. The clown protesters then started to gang up on Garrity and Burke.

The train came to a stop at Bedford Park Boulevard. The doors opened and the violent crowd spilled out onto the platform, along with the two detectives. They took turns in beating them up, stomping on them. Arthur stepped off the train and took a moment to enjoy the sight and took off his mask. His left eye makeup had smeared down over his cheek. He laughed at their pain and performed a dance of joy, then turned around and disposed the clown mask into a trashcan. A team of policemen came running pass him as he walked away from the crowded platform. His disguise was perfect. Nobody recognized him. He could get away with anything.

* * *

Arthur strolled down the sidewalk on the skid row side of Gotham. He usually avoided that side of town due to the homeless gatherings and drug houses, but now that he was living a dangerous new lifestyle, he didn't care who he came across. A daytime hooker stood in the doorway of a brothel, smoking a cigarette. Arthur ignored her as he walked by, but she still seemed entranced by him. He walked pass a homeless man sitting on the ground, who was injecting some kind of drug into his veins. He was too doped up to even notice the strange clown.

Stopping in front of a run-down, two-story tenement building, Arthur looked to his right and spotted a small figure sitting on the front step. It was a little girl, about six-years-old. She was pretty, with sparkling blue eyes and her blonde hair in pigtails. She was wearing a pink shirt and a short, dark blue denim skirt. There was a faint purple bruise on her left cheek, something Arthur remembered as a sign of child abuse. Still having plenty of time before he had to go on the air, Arthur decided to stop for a minute and talk to her, seeing no harm in doing so. He walked over and knelt in front of the little girl, who looked up at the tall, handsome clown with sad eyes.

"Hi", said Arthur, his voice soft and gentle. "What's your name?"

The little girl didn't answer him.

Arthur frowned at her and covered his face with both his hands, revealing to her a surprised expression. The little girl didn't laugh. Not even a smile. She blinked and looked away from the clown.

Arthur hadn't counted on that. He looked perplexed. No child had ever not laughed at him before. He stood up and placed a hand on his hip, wondering what to do. He turned and tapped his chin with his finger. The little girl looked at him again. Arthur turned back to face her and held up his finger in a eureka moment. He reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out a white handkerchief. He presented it to the little girl and waved a hand over it, pulling the handkerchief away and revealing to her a single red flower. The little girl gasped in amazement, showing him a small smile. Arthur smiled back in return, happy that he was finally able to make her smile. He gave the flower over to the little girl, who took it from the clown and smelled the flower even though it was fake. Arthur knelt down to her level again, giving her a slight caress of her chin in an affectionate manner.

"Thank you", said the little girl. "What's your name?"

"Well, my real name is Carnival, but there are some people who call me..." Arthur paused and thought over what other name to call himself. He quickly thought up a different name and answered the little girl, "Mister J."

"Mister J", The little girl annunciated, letting the name roll off of her tongue. She loved the way it sounded, like music to her ears. Her smile grew bigger and she told him, "I love it."

"What's your name?"

Just at that moment, a booming voice shouted from up above, "Harleen!"

Arthur and the little girl both looked up. There was a man in a wife beaters shirt poking his head out the window of the two-story tenement building. "Get your ass back up here, girl! You got homework to do!"

Arthur stared up at the little girl's father, giving him a threatening death glare. The man suddenly lost his tough guy attitude at the sight of the clown talking to his daughter and disappeared back into the apartment.

The little girl, Harleen, looked at the clown again and said to him sadly, "Well, I have to go now. Bye." She stood up and went to the door, looking back one last time and waving to the handsome clown before going inside.

Arthur stood up and took a moment to consider the little girl, feeling sorry for her and thinking about the abuse she had to put up with. In a way, she reminded him of himself. He hoped that whoever she was, she would grow up to become somebody really important one day. He didn't know her personally, but she seemed like a good kid. Now that that was out of the way, Arthur had just enough time left to pay a visit to another special little lady.

Arthur turned and walked out into the street, turning to his left and sticking his hand out for the oncoming taxi cab to stop. The tires screeched and came to a halt, stopping just barely an inch away from running him over.

The door of the taxi cab opened and Travis Bickle stepped out, shouting, "You stupid fuck!"

Arthur lowered his arm down to his side and flashed him an evil smile. "Hey, Travis. What's up?"

"What's up?" Travis questioned the clown, who walked up to him. "I'll tell you what's up: my foot right up your-"

Arthur didn't let him finish his sentence, as he pulled out his gun and pointed it at Travis, who kept a calm face and raised his hands to the same level as his head. "Hey, just take it easy, all right? I don't want any trouble."

Arthur motioned with his gun for Travis to get back inside the cab. Travis complied and got back into the driver's seat, shutting the door. Arthur opened the back door and got into the backseat, slamming the door shut.

When Travis tried to turn his head and get a good look at his passenger, Arthur cocked his gun and told him in a dark, sinister voice, "Just drive, Travis."

Travis looked away and placed his hands back on the wheel. He stepped on the peddle and drove on down the road. His eyes shifted to the rearview mirror, focusing on the crazy clown man sitting in the backseat.

"What do you want from me, huh?" Travis asked him. His eyes shifted back to the road ahead of him. "I ain't never done anything wrong to you. What do you got against me?"

"I don't have anything against you, Travis", said Arthur. "Except maybe a gun to your head." He chuckled a bit, then let out a high-pitched laugh.

"Aw, shit", Travis muttered in disbelief, recognizing the sound of his voice. "Is that you underneath all that hair and makeup, Arthur?"

Arthur shrugged and told him, "Maybe, maybe not. In all honesty, I don't know who I am anymore."

"Listen, I don't know what kind of issues you got going on with yourself, but maybe we could try and talk it over, just you and me."

"There's only one person I want to talk to right now, Travis. And you're not it."

Sticking his free hand into his pocket, Arthur pulled out an envelope and tossed it over the seat. Travis looked down at the envelope that landed on the front passenger seat. It was obviously full of money.

Travis looked forward again and said to Arthur, "You're out of your fucking mind, you know that?"

"Just take me to the Upper West Side", Arthur ordered him.

Travis felt his heart racing with fear, thinking Arthur was going to kill Wendy. "Look, I don't want Wendy's blood on my hands. Whatever it is you two got goin' on, you know, that's between you and her. Just don't hurt her, okay?"

"Don't be so serious, Travis. Besides, do I look like the kind of clown who would hurt a woman?" Arthur pressed the gun against Travis' head and let out a maniacal laugh.


	27. Chapter 27

Wendy took a shower while she waited for the result of her third pregnancy test. By the time she got out and wrapped a towel around herself and looked at the test, it turned out to be positive. She couldn't believe it. She was pregnant with Arthur's baby! Wendy knew she should have been happy about it, but she was afraid of how Arthur would react. Would he accept the responsibility of his action, or would he tell her to fuck off and not care about her and the baby? She knew Arthur loved children, but would he be able to love this baby as much as he adored everybody else's kid? Wendy knew she was being ridiculous, but she was much more afraid of how her uncle would react. She knew she would have to move out sooner or later. Not that she didn't mind that part. She knew she could always leave Gotham City and go back home, but then she would be leaving Arthur behind. Maybe she could persuade him to come home with her like Travis encouraged her to do. She threw the pregnancy test into the wastebasket and decided to get dressed first.

Wendy walked back into the bedroom and went over and sat down at the vanity and started to search for her lipstick, but it was missing. She spotted something in the reflection of the mirror and turned her head and looked over her right shoulder. There was a magician's wand with colorful flowers sticking out of the top lying on the bed. There was also an envelope with her name on it next to it. Wendy stood up and walked over and picked up the wand, touching the flowers which looked and felt more like feathers. She tossed the wand back on the bed and eyed the note and picked it up. She opened the envelope and pulled out what she thought was a letter, but when she unfolded it, it only turned out to be a crudely-drawn picture of a frowny face. She didn't understand.

"You should learn to lock your door, Wendy", said a deep, masculine voice.

Hearing the bedroom door slam shut, Wendy gasped in fright and turned around at once, keeping a tight grip on the towel covering her body. The owner of the voice, a man, was standing in her bedroom. He had been hiding behind the door. He was wearing a flamboyant, cranberry red suit, complete with a long-sleeved green shirt and bright orange vest. A pair of brown leather dance shoes were on his feet. His hair was seaweed green and slicked back with a gentle wave. His face was painted white with small red eyebrows, a red painted nose, and blue diamond patterns around his eyes. The pattern under his left eye was ruined by a fallen tear that ran down his cheek earlier. His lips were red as blood and formed into a sharp smile. He looked very much the part of a gentleman clown, but there was an aura surrounding him that casted neither light or darkness.

"Oh, my God", Wendy breathed out, her heart racing. Part of her wanted to scream for help, but nobody would hear her. She was all alone, defenseless. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The clown man didn't answer her. His eyes glared at her, and she could see the disappointed frown beneath his painted red smile. He stepped closer toward her.

Wendy sat down on the bed, gasping and staring at him with wide, frightened eyes. The clown man lunged at her and pinned her down on the bed.

"No!" Wendy screamed.

The clown man covered her mouth with his left hand, muffling her cry. Wendy sobbed beneath him, thinking for sure this man was going to rape her or possibly kill her. With his free hand, the clown man opened the towel and revealed her naked body to him, placing his hand on her left breast and stroking her nipple with his thumb. Wendy shuddered from his touch, shutting her eyes tight and feeling tears leak out from behind her eyelids.

"Why are you crying, Wendy?" The clown man asked her. "You should be laughing."

Wendy turned her head away, still keeping her eyes shut, and shouted something at him, but her words were muffled by his hand. More tears leaked out from the corners of her eyes.

"Don't cry, Wendy", said the clown man, softly. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want you to look at me."

Wendy calmed down a bit, recognizing the sound of his voice. She opened her eyes and looked at him again, taking several deep breaths. She studied his face more closely and looked carefully into his eyes. They were mesmerizing and hypnotic, like staring into the eyes of a poisonous snake. And yet, there was something familiar about them. His eyes were a beautiful shade of green.

Wendy stared at him in shock. She had seen those exact same eyes belong to only one man. The clown man removed his hand and allowed her to speak. "Arthur?"

"You don't recognize me, do you?" Arthur asked her, then let out a familiar high-pitched laugh, mocking a real one.

With that, Arthur pressed his painted lips against hers, kissing her deeply. Wendy moaned uncomfortably, squirming beneath him. Arthur gripped her chin roughly and forced her to look into his eyes again.

"Don't fight me, Wendy", Arthur warned her, his voice sounding dark and husky. "I said I wasn't going to hurt you. But the more you keep struggling with me, I may just have to do something about that."

Arthur released Wendy and got off of her and stood up straight, allowing her to sit up and take in his appearance. His clothes were much more fancier than his usual attire, the outfit pleasantly colorful and striking. He looked dashing and handsome, but she wouldn't admit it. He might have looked like a clown, but he was not the same type of clown he used to be. There was also something different about his voice. It sounded unnatural. It sounded like him, but it wasn't him at all. This was not the same man she once knew. This was not the same man she loved. This was not the same person who wanted to bring joy and laughter into the world. This was a completely different person taking over Arthur. Whoever it was, whatever it was, she was afraid of him.

Wendy stared at him in disbelief and asked him, "Arthur, what happened to you? Why are you dressed like this?"

"Do you like my surprise?" Arthur asked her. "I was going for something original, but with a little class. Do you think the hair is a bit much? I've been trying to go for a different look, as you can see."

"But why?" Wendy questioned him desperately, feeling like she was getting ready to cry again. "Arthur, this isn't you. What happened to you?"

"Arthur?" He chuckled and said, "Arthur Fleck is dead, Wendy. He died the day he discovered the truth. Penny Fleck lied to him all those years. She told him he had a condition, but he never did. She made him into what I am now. Then Randall lost him his job and got him fired. An eye for an eye. Those three Wall Street guys on the subway started a chain reaction that led us here. And now seven people are dead and I'm stuck like this."

"What are you talking about?"

"I left something for you out in your uncle's living room. Be sure to read it after I'm gone, will you? I think you'll find it to be very amusing. I know I did."

Wendy shook her head and told him, "This isn't you talking, Arthur. This is something else. Whatever this is, I don't want to be a part of it. I can't."

"I thought you might say that", said Arthur. "Which is why I decided to stop by and say my last goodbye in person. I figured you'd be upset about me leaving after we had sex, but it looks to me like you still want more of me."

Wendy looked down at herself and realized she was still naked in front of him. She turned and reached over for the towel to cover herself up, but Arthur pulled out the revolver from his coat pocket and pointed it at her.

Wendy screamed in terror and dropped the towel, but covered her breasts with her arms. Arthur didn't like that.

"Don't hide yourself from me, Wendy", Arthur threatened, his voice filled with venom.

Wendy shook her head and begged him, "Arthur, please! No!"

Arthur cocked his weapon and repeated, "I said don't hide yourself from me."

Wendy didn't want to expose herself in front of this crazy person, but once the tears fell down her cheeks, she slowly lowered her arms back down to her sides and let out a frightened sob. Her body trembling in fear.

Arthur stared at her for a while, his mouth forming back into an arrogant smile. "Oh, what? Are you scared of this little old gun?"

Wendy shook her head and begged him tearfully, "Arthur, please don't kill me. There's something I need to tell you about-"

"Why would I kill you, Wendy? You've never done anything wrong to me. Besides, if I kill you, you might miss my big debut on TV tonight."

"Debut?"

"Oh! Didn't I tell you? Murray Franklin invited me to appear on his show. I'm gonna be on at ten thirty tonight."

Wendy was confused, but decided to go along with it. "_The_ Murray Franklin?"

Arthur uncocked his gun and stuck it back into his pocket. He straighted out his coat and asked her, "You remember that night I fucked up my act at Pogo's? Murray got a hold of me on video tape that night and started playing it on his show. The crowd loved it. Everybody laughed at me, but they still loved it. The studio called me a few days ago and asked me if I would like to appear on the show and I said yes. You should be happy for me, Wendy."

Wendy nodded, but still didn't understand his rambling. "Arthur, listen to me. I need to tell you something. It's important. It's about us. There's something I need to tell you about Thomas Wayne, too. If you would just listen to-"

Arthur lunged at her again, growling as he clasped a hand over her mouth and pinned her down on the bed for a second time. Wendy whimpered beneath him, her wide brown eyes staring directly into his dark green ones.

"Don't you ever, _ever_ mention the name Thomas Wayne in front of me", Arthur threatened her, darkly. "Do you understand?"

Wendy was too scared to answer him back or say anything, but nodded her head vigorously. Arthur removed his hand from her mouth, allowing her to take in a shaky breath of air. His eyes stared angrily at her.

"Arthur, please listen to me", said Wendy, trying once again to get her word out. "Jack Napier put a contract on the Wayne family. He's sending Joseph Chilton to take them out tonight. He's going to kill them!"

"I don't care, Wendy", said Arthur. "That's what Thomas Wayne gets for breaking my fucking nose. Though I do hope little Bruce survives the night. It would be a shame if he were to be killed in cold blood."

Sitting up, Arthur grabbed Wendy by her hips and turned her over onto her stomach, forcing a surprised gasp out of her and causing her to moan in distress. He pulled her right arm painfully behind her back and leaned over her again and whispered into her ear, "I'm glad Arthur got to know you while he was still alive. And you know something? I kinda like seeing you like this. Maybe you and I should try something more kinky next time."

Arthur sat up again and slapped his hand hard on her ass, causing Wendy to let out a small cry of pain. He laughed manically and released her arm, then got off the bed and went over to the door and opened it, walking out and slamming it behind him. Wendy heard him laughing even as he walked out of the apartment, laughing like a deranged lunatic. It was unsettling, unlike anything she had ever heard.

Wendy looked over her right shoulder and sat up at once, trying to make sense of what happened. Arthur didn't hurt her. He only wanted to terrify her. If that was his true intention, it worked. Wendy had never been more scared in her life. Not only that, but Arthur admittedly confessed to her about killing those three guys on the subway last week. _He_ was the murderer! She couldn't believe it. Wendy felt her heart breaking, her face flushed with hot tears that started running down her cheeks. She lowered her face into her hands and started sobbing. She wiped away her tears angrily and lied down, wrapping her arms around herself and shaking from the tremendous amount of emotion she was feeling from her frightening experience. Whoever this clown was he was starting to become, she wanted no part of him. Arthur Fleck, the man she once knew and loved, was gone. She never even got a chance to tell him about the baby.


	28. Chapter 28

Once he arrived at the studio, Arthur was shown to a dressing room. He stood in front of the mirror while he waited for Murray Franklin and thought about Wendy. He didn't mean to frighten her so badly. He didn't know what had come over him and he didn't know what he was doing. He knew this clown character had probably ruined his chance of keeping her in his life, but this was something he had to do to protect her. He was going down a dark road and couldn't let her get hurt because of him. He had to let her go. He would miss her, but at least she would be safe from him.

_This is it_, Arthur thought to himself. _My big moment_. He looked down and reached a hand into his coat pocket and pulled out a tube of bright pink lipstick, the same one Wendy had been looking for earlier.

Arthur looked straight ahead and used the lipstick to write a message on the mirror: _Put on a happy face_. He let the message sink in for a minute, then sat down in a chair and started to do touch ups on his face. There was a makeup kit in the dressing room. He fixed his hair, then started redoing the blue diamond pattern around his left eye. He wanted to look his best tonight.

Arthur finished the final touch on his makeup and switched on the TV, watching the news while he smoked a cigarette and waited to go on the show. The same old stuff over the last few weeks: politics, the garbage strike, the rat sightings, the subway murders, the clown riots. The latest news mentioned two police detectives who were beaten and battered on the subway platform. Arthur laughed at that, taking a drag and blowing out smoke.

There was a knock on the door and Murray Franklin walked in, along with his producer, Gene. They were both surprised and taken aback by the sight of the man in the red suit and clown makeup.

"Murray!" Arthur exclaimed, setting his cigarette into the ashtray and standing up. An excited grin formed across his painted face, but on the inside, he was holding back all the contempt he had for the older comedian.

"Hey, it's Mr. Franklin, buddy", said Gene. "Show some respect."

"Hey, relax, Gene", Murray told him. He looked at Arthur and reassured him, "Murray's fine, kid. I prefer it, in fact."

"Thanks, Murray", said Arthur, shaking his hand. "I can't believe I'm actually here. I've been watching you all my life."

Murray nodded in appreciation, then took note of Arthur's attire and asked him, "So, what's with the face? Are you part of the protest or something? Is this a political statement?"

"No", Arthur reassured him, shaking his head. "No, I'm not political, Murray. I don't believe in any of that. I don't believe in anything. I just thought it would be good for my act."

"For you act?" Gene questioned him. "Didn't you hear what happened? Some guy got killed on the subway today."

"No, I didn't hear about that", said Arthur, pretending to play innocent.

Gene turned to Murray and complained, "There. You see? I don't think this is a good idea. People are going to go nuts if they see this guy. Maybe for a few minutes, perhaps, but a whole segment? This is crazy."

"Come on, Gene", said Murray, brushing him off. "That's all bullshit. Besides, I like it. It's timely, it's edgy, but it's also dangerous. The best comedy is all those things put together. We're gonna go with it."

Arthur laughed gleefully and said, "Thank you, Murray."

"Couple of rules, though", Murray reminded him. "No cussing or any off-color material. We do a clean show. All right?"

"Mm-hmm." Arthur nodded politely, letting him that know he understood.

"You'll go on right after Dr. Sally. Someone will come and get you. Good?"

Arthur nodded again.

"All right. Good luck, kid." Murray and Gene turned and were about to walk out, but then Arthur made one simple request before they left. They both looked back at him.

"Oh, and Murray, one small thing", said Arthur. "When you bring me out, can you introduce me as Joker?"

Murray and Gene looked at each other and then looked at Arthur again. "What for? What's wrong with your real name?" Gene questioned him.

Arthur laughed and said, "Honestly, I don't even know what my real name is. Besides, that's what you called me on the show, Murray. A joker. Remember?"

Murray looked at his producer and asked him, "Did I say that?"

"I don't know", Gene answered.

Murray shrugged and told Arthur, "Sure, kid. Whatever you say. See ya soon."

"Thanks, Murray."

The two men walked out, closing the door and leaving Arthur alone until it was his time to go on the show. He sat down in the chair again, leaning back as he pulled out the gun and cocked it, placing it underneath his chin.

Sometime later, Arthur was standing behind the blue and orange curtains, smoking a cigarette while he listened to Murray talking to his two other guests, Dr. Sally and Barry O'Donnell, about sexual problems. The audience laughed. He heard Murray addressing to the audience that they might have seen the next guest that was about to come out, as he played the video of Arthur the night he messed up his act at the comedy club. Arthur heard himself laughing on the video, feeling insulted once again. His jungle green eyes were burning with rage and fury. He felt around his waist for the quickest way to access his gun and made sure it was hidden underneath his shirt. He took a deep breath through his nose. This time, there would be no mistakes. This time, he would not fowl up. Arthur started to feel a strange sensation taking hold over his body. He heard a haunting cello theme playing in his head and started to perform a slow dance equal to the one he did on the night he killed those three Wall Street guys and took refuge in a filthy bathroom. It was time to face the audience.

"Now, before he comes out", said Murray to the audience. "I just want to say that we're all heartbroken about what's going on in the city tonight. But this is how he wanted to come out, and honestly, I think we could all use a good laugh. So, without further ado, please welcome, Joker."

The curtains parted, the band started to play, and the music swelled. Arthur forgot all about his anger and put on a show for the crowd, dancing out onto the stage as the audience applauded him. He removed the cigarette from his lips and dropped it on the ground. Somebody picked it up backstage. Arthur spun around a couple of times and walked over to Murray, shaking his hand. He went over to Dr. Sally, who offered to shake his hand, as well. Instead, Arthur took her head into his hands and planted a big kiss onto her lips against her will. This received a big reaction from the audience, though Murray felt a little uncomfortable about him pulling a stunt like that. Arthur released Dr. Sally and completely ignored Barry and took a seat in the chair next to Murray's desk, waving to the crowd just like he practiced. He ran a hand through his hair, crossing one leg over the other.

"You all right, doc?" Murray asked his female guest with concern.

Dr. Sally didn't say anything, but turned her head away and looked at Barry O'Donnell sitting on her right. He glared over at the clown man that ignored him, thinking he was being very rude.

Arthur sat there in silence, looking straight ahead at the camera and taking a minute to admire the atmosphere. The lights, the cameras, the audience. Everything he had every dreamed about was finally becoming a reality.

"You okay?" Murray asked him.

"Yeah", Arthur answered. "This is exactly how I imagined it."

Murray shrugged and joked, "Well, that makes one of us."

The audience laughed in amusement and applauded. Arthur couldn't help but smile.

"So, can you tell us about this look?" Murray asked him. "When we spoke earlier, you mentioned that you aren't political. That this is not a political statement. Is that correct?"

"That's right, Murray", Arthur answered. "I'm not political. You know, I'm...I'm just trying to make people laugh."

"And how's that working out for you?" Murray asked him.

Arthur turned his head and looked over at the two guests, then looked straight ahead at the audience and let out a high-pitched laugh. The audience laughed along with him, thinking it was part of the show.

"So, I understand you're a comedian", Murray mentioned. "Have you been working on any new material? Would you like to tell us a joke?"

The audience cheered and applauded, egging him on.

"Oh, yeah?" Arthur asked them. He chuckled and said, "Okay." He reached behind and pulled out his journal from the back pocket of his pants. The audience, even Murray, couldn't help but laugh.

"He's got a book", said Murray. "A book of jokes." He laughed again, the audience laughing with him.

Arthur unfolded his journal and opened it and flipped through the pages until he came across an old entry: _I just hope my death makes more cents then my life_. He paused for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should really commit suicide live in front of millions of viewers at home. Part of him wanted to go through with his original plan, the other part didn't. He knew it was stupid, but it was the only thing he had left. He thought about Wendy and reminded himself that he told her to watch him tonight. He thought that if he blew his brains out, it would probably scar her for life. He wasn't sure he could go through with it. He felt torn.

"Take your time", said Murray. "We got all night."

Arthur didn't like the way Murray said that, or the way the audience laughed at him. Right away, he changed his mind about committing suicide on the show and decided to fuck around with the talk show host out of revenge.

Arthur turned a page in his journal and smiled when he found an inappropriate joke. "Okay, here's one", he said. "Knock knock."

Murray shrugged and said, "Okay, I'll go along with it. Who's there?"

"It's the police, ma'am", Arthur joked. "Your son's been hit by a drunk driver. He's dead! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

The audience groaned in disgust. The trumpeter from the band played the '_wha-wha-wha-whuuuuh_' tune.

"No, no, you cannot joke about that", Dr. Sally told him, offended.

"Yeah, that's not funny, Arthur", Murray reprimanded him. "That's not the kind of humor we do on this show."

"Yeah, okay", said Arthur, nodding his head. He looked at the audience and said, "You're right. You know what? I'm sorry. It's just that...It's been a few rough weeks ever since I...killed those three Wall Street guys."

The audience went into total silence. They couldn't tell if he was joking or not. Even Murray wasn't sure what to make of it. He shrugged and said, "Okay, I'm waiting for the punchline."

"There is no punchline", said Arthur. "It's not a joke."

The audience gasped in shock. The cameraman and the technical director looked at each other, not sure whether they should go on with the show or cut to commercial.

Murray leaned forward in his chair and folded his arms on his desk, asking Arthur, "You're serious, aren't you? You're telling us you killed those three young men on the subway?"

"Mm-hmm." Arthur nodded.

"And why should we believe you?" Murray asked him.

Arthur gave off an arrogant shrug and said, "I've got nothing left to lose. Nothing can hurt me anymore. My life is nothing but a comedy."

The audience groaned and booed at Arthur, not a single person laughing at his dark sense of humor. It offended them.

"Let me get this straight", said Murray, trying to make sense of Arthur's statement. "You think that killing those three young men is funny?"

Arthur nodded and answered, "I do. And I'm tired of pretending like it's not. Comedy is subjective, Murray. Isn't that what they say? All of you, Gotham City, _the system that knows so much_, you decide what's right or wrong. The same way you decide what's _fun-nay_...or not _fun-nay_."

Murray was about to say something, but then heard a member in the audience shout out, "Get him off!" He looked out toward the audience, trying to think of a way to save the show with the way it was going and stay calm.

"Okay, I think I understand", said Murray, trying to make a genuine connection with Arthur. "You did this to start a movement, to become a symbol of some sort?"

"Come on, _Mur-ray_", Arthur exaggerated, egging him on. "Do I really look like the kind of clown who would start a movement? I killed those three guys because they were awful to me."

"So, that's it? That's your defense for killing those three guys? Because they were mean to you?"

"No", said Arthur. "Those three guys couldn't carry a tune to save their lives."

The audience finally gave up on Arthur and started booing him, telling him to get off the stage. Some of them even started to get up and walk out.

Arthur rolled his eyes and groaned in annoyance, "Ugh, why is everyone so upset over these three guys? If it was me dying on the sidewalk, you'd walk right over me! I pass by you everyday in the street and you don't notice me. But these three guys get all the attention. Why? Because Thomas Wayne went and cried about them on TV?"

"You have a problem with Thomas Wayne now?" Murray asked.

"Yes, I do", Arthur answered. "Have you seen what it's life out there, _Mur-ray_? Do you ever actually leave the studio? Everybody is awful these days. Everybody just yells and screams at each other. _**NOBODY'S **__**CIVIL **__**ANYMORE!**_ You think men like Thomas Wayne ever wonder what it feels like to be someone like me? To be somebody other than themselves? They don't. They think that we'll just sit there and take it, like good little boys and girls. That we won't turn into werewolves and go wild on our masters!"

"You finished?" Murray asked him, starting to get irritated. "I mean there's so much self-pity there, Arthur. You sound like you're making excuses for killing those three guys. Not everybody, and I'm telling you this right now, not everybody is awful."

Arthur didn't agreed with him. He glared at the talk show host and whispered darkly, "_You're_ awful, Murray."

Murray raised his eyebrows at Arthur's remark. "I'm awful? _Me?_ I'm awful? Tell me how I'm awful."

Arthur was quiet for a moment. "Playing my video...Inviting me on the show...You just wanted to make fun of me. You're just like the rest of them!"

"Okay, first of all, you don't know anything about me, pal", Murray told him off. "Look at what happened out there because of what you started. There are riots out there. The city's on fire. Two policemen are in critical condition. Someone was killed today because of what you started, and you're laughing. You're _laughing_ about it."

Arthur smiled and nodded, rocking in his seat and laughing with excitement. "I know...How 'bout another joke, _Mur-ray_?"

"No, I think we've had enough of your sick jokes, pal", Murray protested.

"What do you get-", Arthur started.

"I don't think so", Murray interrupted.

"-when you cross-"

"I think we're done here, Arthur."

"-a mentally ill loner with a society-"

"That's enough, Arthur!"

"-**_THAT ABANDONS HIM AND TREATS HIM LIKE TRASH?!_**"

"That's it! Gene, call the police! Call the police right now!"

"**_I'LL__ TELL YOU WHAT YOU GET: YOU GET WHAT YOU FUCKING DESERVE!_**"

Pulling out the revolver, Arthur aimed the gun at Murray and shot him right between the eyes, splattering blood on the wall behind him. The audience screamed in terror, panicked voices filled the air as they went running out of the studio. Dr. Sally turned away and shielded her eyes with her hands, while Barry O'Donnell wrapped his arms around her to protect her.

Arthur, or rather, Joker, sat there with a small splatter of Murray's blood on his face, his twisted snarl forming back into a creepy smile. His left leg bounced up and down vigorously, as he looked toward the camera and let out a genuine laugh. He stood up and shot the corpse of Murray Franklin in the chest, then tossed the gun on the desk and skip-danced over to the camera, grabbing it and tilting it upward to address to the viewers at home.

"Good night, folks. And always remember: that's li-"

Cut off from being tackled on the ground by two security guards, Arthur felt himself hit the cold hard floor and laughed his ass off as they handcuffed him and shouted for somebody to call the police.


	29. Chapter 29

Right after Arthur left her uncle's apartment, Wendy went out into the living room and found a red file lying on the coffee table, the same one he'd stolen from Arkham State Hospital. Wendy opened the file and read the paperwork and found the adoption certificate. There were reports that issued a series of child abuse, including an incident where there was a radiator involved. Several forensic photographs showed a three-year-old boy with bruises all over his naked body and a cut on his upper lip. The mentally ill woman who adopted him and gave him a second chance in life was nothing more than a monster, as evident by the abuse he endured, the innocence he had lost. The more Wendy read, the more her heart ached. It brought her to tears thinking about what Arthur went through during his childhood.

At the moment, Jack was looking through Penny Fleck's case file. His niece was sitting on the couch, looking distraught. Her face was red and tear-stained from all the crying she had done over the last hour.

"You were right all along, Uncle Jack", Wendy told him, tearfully. "Somebody did mess him up. Arthur was abused as a child, practically raped. It's that fucking bitch's fault! She's the reason he turned out like this!"

Wendy lowered her face into her hands and started crying again, sniffling and letting out a quiet sob. She wrapped her arms around herself, her body trembling with grief.

Jack paid no attention to her despair. He was intrigued by the all evidence he found in the case file, but there was no emotion to be found on his face. "You said he came here today?" Jack asked her.

Wendy looked up at him and said, "Yes! I'm telling you, Arthur was here this afternoon. His face was all painted up like a clown. His hair was dyed green and he was wearing a red suit. He aimed a gun at me!"

Jack closed the file and tossed it down on the coffee table and said, "So he's a messed up kid. A lot of guys are like that."

"But what kind of mother allows someone do to that to her own child?!" Wendy shouted, and lowered her face back into her hands again, sobbing and sniffling.

Jack rolled his eyes in annoyance and turned around and went over to the small table next to the wall and poured himself a glass of bourbon, saying, "You keep crying like that, you'll give yourself a headache."

"No wonder he's so unhappy all the time", Wendy cried. Her voice sounded broken.

Jack downed his drink in one gulp, then poured another glass and turned around and walked back over to Wendy, telling her, "Drink this. It will calm you down."

Wendy took the glass from him and was about to bring it to her lips, but then remembered her current condition and set the glass down on the coffee table. She wasn't sure if he did that intentionally or not.

"You said he killed those three businessmen on the subway", Jack mentioned. "Has he killed anyone else?

Wendy didn't look at him, but shook her head and answered, "I don't know. I don't how if he's killed other people. Even if he has, I still love Arthur, but I never wanted him to end up like this."

Jack moved closer to Wendy and placed a gentle hand on her left shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly. "There, there, kid", he said. "I know it hurts to lose someone you love. I'm sure your mother felt the same way."

Wendy sniffled and took a shaky breath, wiping away a tear from her face. She didn't know why he decided to bring up her dead parents at a time like this, but hoped he was doing it out of closure for the both of them.

"What was the name of that guy your mom married, Wendy?" Jack asked her. "Your father's name."

"Tallman", Wendy answered. "George Tallman."

"Ah, yes. Good Ol' Georgie Tallman. The man that got away and broke your mother's heart. What went wrong, Wendy?"

"They had some problems. Mom divorced him and got custody of me and changed my name from Tallman to Napier. I got to visit my father on weekends. Sometimes she let me stay with him for Christmas and New Years."

"That's nice", said Jack. His grip tightened on Wendy's shoulder, almost in a possessive manner. Wendy looked at his hand and then looked up at him, her eyes glistening with tears.

"You know why she married him in the first place, don't you? Your mother married him to get away from me. You see, Uncle Jack did some bad shit back in his days. At age fifteen, he got into trouble for bringing a gun to school. Assault with a deadly weapon, they said. He was a fine young man. He liked science and art and chemistry. He was a brilliant man, but he just had a few loose wires and made some bad decisions. Mommy and Daddy couldn't control him, so they put him away. They both died before he got locked up, but he didn't give two fucks about them. The minute I got out, I went back home and tried to throw myself at my sister. I scared her so bad, she said she never wanted to see me again. I had a feeling your mother was never going to come back, but she did. In the form of you, that is."

Wendy stood up at once, scared out of her mind of what Jack was implying. "Hey, I'm no Clark Gable, but I think I'm a much better choice than your last two boyfriends", he said. "You're running out of options here, kid."

Wendy slowly started to back away, knowing that whatever it was Jack was about to do to her wasn't going to be any good.

Jack slowly advanced on her, smiling wickedly. He fixed his hair and asked her in a soft-spoken, creepy monotone, "What are you afraid of, Wendy? You're not scared of dear old Uncle Jack, are you?"

Wendy gasped in fright once her back came in contact with the wall. The small table with the bottle of bourbon on it was on her right. She started breathing heavily and told him, "You're not an uncle, you're the Devil."

"I prefer to be called a Taurus", said Jack. "By the way-" He reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out one of the pregnancy tests. "I found your little friend in the bathroom this morning. Would you care to explain that?"

Wendy didn't say anything and just stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Now about this problem of yours", said Jack, putting the test back into his pocket. "If you'd like, I can have it taken care of by tonight. I know a good back alley doctor that can remove it like it never happened."

Wendy shook her head and told him defiantly, "I can't do that. I don't want to kill it. It's Arthur's baby. I can't just-"

Jack slammed his fist on the wall beside Wendy's head, causing her to turn her head and look away from him. She quivered with fear and let out a soft whimper.

"You decide to keep that little parasite, you're gonna wish you never met me", Jack threatened her. "You thought you could just come here with your pretty face and try to convince yourself that I was a good man? There are no good men, Wendy. Your parents never told you about me, because they didn't want anything to do with me after I tried to force myself onto your mother. She knew I was going down a bad path, so she married the first guy that came to her rescue and moved away to another city just to get away from me. I didn't care if the bitch lived or died without having me in her life at that point."

Wendy gasped and held her breath as Jack placed his other hand gently on her cheek. She still avoided looking at him.

"You know something? I've boned a lot of women in my time, but I don't think any one of them came as close to looking as beautiful as you do. Did Arthur fuck you in the ass? If you're still tight as I think you are, I'm sure we can negotiate a deal. Nothing but a little breaking in wouldn't do to fix you. If you would just change your mind about me and consider having an abortion-"

Finally having enough of Jack's verbal abuse, Wendy decided to fight back and grabbed him by the lapel of his suit and kneed him in the groin. Jack howled in pain and clutched himself between his legs, groaning.

Wendy looked to her right and grabbed the bottle of bourbon, as Jack looked up at her and growled furiously in a strained voice, "Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

Wendy yelled and smashed the bottle right over his head, knocking him out. She breathed heavily as she looked down at his body lying on the floor, making sure he wouldn't get back up. She tossed the neck of the broken bottle aside and glanced over at the clock and saw what time it was. It was 10:45. Quickly, she ran over and dropped down on her knees in front of the TV, turning it on and seeing the clown-faced, green-haired Arthur Fleck in his fancy red suit. He was on the Murray Franklin Show, just like he told her he would be. Wendy heard the audience booing him, hinting to her that they weren't enjoying him being on there. What happened now?

"_Ugh, why is everybody so upset over these three guys?_" Arthur grumbled on TV. "_If it was me dying on the sidewalk, you'd walk right over me! I pass by you everyday in the street and you don't notice me._"

Wendy stared at Arthur in disbelief, listening to him rant about how everybody was awful and how men like Thomas Wayne didn't care about people like him. Murray calmly tried to talk some sense into Arthur and convince him that not everybody was awful. Even though she didn't care for the talk show host, Wendy strongly had to agree with him. Arthur, however, was not inclined to share in the same opinion and told Murray that he was awful.

Meanwhile, Wendy failed to notice Jack had recovered and slowly got up from behind the couch, a large, bloody gash on his head. He glared angrily at the auburn-haired woman, deciding to finish her off for good.

When Murray mentioned a list of things that happened because of what occurred on the subway, Wendy felt silent tears starting to fall down her face. Arthur simply laughed at the facts and asked him if he would like to hear another joke, but Murray rebuffed him. He started to tell his final joke, but Arthur had to raise his voice louder each time when Murray kept interrupting him, frightening Wendy and causing her to put a hand over her mouth.

Jack reached a hand inside his coat during the rant and pulled out his gun, but before he could pull the trigger and bring an end to his niece, the sound of a gunshot echoed from the television. Arthur shot Murray Franklin!

Wendy threw her arms down and screamed in horror at the sight of Arthur shooting a man on television. Even Jack paused his murderous intentions for a moment and stared in disbelief at what Arthur had done. It was just about the ballsiest thing he had ever seen.

Arthur Fleck, a once well-meaning individual and all around good guy, had publicly murdered a man live on national television. And not just any man, but Murray Franklin. As much as Wendy didn't like him, she never in her wildest dreams ever thought about having him meet such a gruesome death. She was mortified that the crazed clown man would display a murder live in front of millions of people as though it were a public execution.

Wendy sat there on the floor, a look of terror on her face. She couldn't breathe for a moment. She could see Arthur's real smile creeping out from beneath the painted one on his face. He let out a genuine laugh and stood up and shot Murray in the chest just to amuse himself. He tossed the gun on the desk and came closer to the camera, tilting it up and closing the show with the final line: "_Good night, folks. And always remember: that's li-_"

The television screen exploded from the sound of a second gunshot, sparks went flying. Wendy screamed and threw her arms over her face. She turned around at once and looked at Jack, who cocked his gun and tried to shoot at her again. Wendy ducked out of the way just in time and reached a hand into her coat pocket, pulling out the switchblade and pressing the button to flick it open. She sat up and threw the weapon at Jack, striking him in the shoulder. He yelled out and raised the gun, shooting it at the ceiling. Wendy found her mobility again and got to her feet and ran over to the door immediately, opening it and running out of the apartment.

Wendy ran down the hall, never bothering once to look back. She was finally leaving Jack Napier for good. She turned right at the elevator and ran down another hall and raced down a flight of stairs until she reached the lobby. She ran out the revolving door and looked around outside, hoping to find somebody who could help her. She didn't know where to go. Just then, a yellow taxi cab pulled up next to the curb. Wendy ran over to it.

Travis leaned over the seat and rolled down the passenger side window and said, "Hey, I just got your message. What's the matter?"

Wendy opened the back door and got in at once, slamming the door and telling him, "Take me to Gotham Square and step on it!"

Just then, another gunshot went off, shattering the back passenger side window. Wendy screamed and ducked down low on the backseat, throwing her arms over her head as broken glass rained down on her.

Travis looked over and saw Jack Napier pointing a gun at the cab and firing more bullets at them. Quickly, he activated a device he had hidden up his sleeve, projecting a Smith and Wesson Model 61 pistol into his hand and firing once. He shot Jack through his face. The gangster clutched at his facial wound, dropping his weapon and letting out an ungodly scream of pain as he fell down on the ground. Blood rushing through his fingers.

Travis hid the weapon back up his sleeve and told Wendy, "You might wanna hold on back there." He stepped on the peddle and sped off down the street, turning left onto Clark and Higgins Street.

Wendy uncovered her head and sat up slowly. Travis looked back at her for a second to see if she was all right, then looked forward again and adjusted the rearview mirror so he could see her reflection. "You hurt?"

"No, I'm all right", said Wendy.

Travis adjusted the rearview mirror again and placed his hand back on the wheel. "What the fuck happened back there?"

"I'll explain everything to you later. Right now, we have to find Arthur. He's lost it, Travis."

* * *

After being tackled by security, Arthur somehow found himself riding in the back of a squad car. He leaned his head against the window, enjoying the view of the city as they slowly drove down to the police station. The city was under attack by a swarm of clown protesters, raging anarchy and chaos in the wake of the uprising against the system. Cars were on fire. People were breaking windows on buildings and looting stores. Some carried flares and smoke grenades, waving them around like stick flags. An endless parade of violence and madness is what it was. The people of Gotham were cheering and celebrating in the streets like it was a holiday.

All Arthur could do was sit back and enjoy the sight. He smiled and laughed enthusiastically. All of these people were following him for bringing awareness to their oppression. He felt like an artist watching a painting being brought to life. He was the artist and the clown rioters were his paintbrush, creating a beautiful masterpiece of anarchy and chaos. Whatever he told them, whatever he said, the clowns would do his will. He loved it.

One of the police officers in the front said to him, "This isn't funny, you fucking freak. The whole city's on fire because of you."

Arthur looked straight ahead and leaned forward, resting his forehead against the steel grate. "I know", he bemused. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Right at that moment, a blinding light crashed into the right side of the vehicle, T-boning the squad car and knocking Arthur into unconsciousness. The two policemen in the front did not survive. It was an ambulance that hit the squad car, stolen by three clown rioters. It came out of nowhere. A yellow taxi cab tried to make a turn and avoid the collusion, but flipped over upside down and slid across the road, stopping about ten feet away.

The door of the medical transport opened. The masked driver and his two companions got out of the ambulance and ran over to the undamaged side of the squad car, seeing the dead-looking clown man in the backseat.

"Yo, it's him!" Said one of the clowns.

"Come on, man. We gotta get him outta there!" Said another clown.

Carefully, they reached inside and grabbed hold of Arthur, pulling his body out of the wreckage. They carried him over to the front of the squad car and placed him gently on top of the hood of the vehicle. He didn't look like he was breathing. The crowd gathered around and waited anxiously, still cheering for the leader with the painted face who started it all.

* * *

Wendy looked out the window of the taxi cab, seeing all the madness and mass riots going on in the streets of Gotham. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people had donned clown makeup or clown masks. Travis looked to his right and saw a gang of clowns setting a car on fire. There were people looting a music store. Someone took a golf club to a telephone booth. Another person stood on top of a truck and started waving smoke flares. People were running and shouting like animals, destroying everything they could in their path. Everything was in total disorganization.

Travis drove down the uptown part of the city. Wendy saw the Wayne family coming out of a movie theater and spotted Joe Chill, as well. He followed them down a dark alley as they tried to avoid all the danger.

Wendy looked forward and urged the driver, "Travis, please, hurry!"

"Wendy, this is a taxi cab, not a Lamborghini", said Travis. "Besides, have you seen what's going on out here tonight?"

Making a right and driving down on Market Street, Travis turned on the radio, tuning in to a news station and hoping to hear about what led to all this craziness, though he already knew the answer.

"_Breaking news: popular TV talk show host, Murray Franklin, shot dead tonight on the live telecast of his program. The man, who was introduced by Franklin as 'Joker', is currently under arrest._"

Travis wasn't even listening to the radio anymore. He kept his stoic gaze forward, seeing a police car right ahead of him. The red and blue lights flashed in the distance as the sirens blared loudly.

_You got what you fucking deserve, asshole_, Travis thought to himself. His eyes held no emotion.

Then, suddenly, without warning, Travis saw an ambulance crash into the side of the police car. Not having enough time or space to make a turn, Travis yelled at the woman in the backseat, "_**HANG ON!**_"

The cab drove over the hood of the squad car and flipped over, landing upside down and sliding across the asphalt until it came to a stop in the middle of the road. The driver and his passenger were knocked out.


	30. Chapter 30

Thomas and Martha were unaware of all the violence and chaos going on outside the movie theater. They were only trying to enjoy some time with their son and only child, Bruce. Once the Zorro movie was over, they walked out of the theater, only to find their limousine had been set on fire. There was some kind of a riot going on out in the streets. A bunch of people dressed in clown makeup and wearing clown masks went running by. Some were carrying stolen televisions and waving smoke grenades. Others were smashing windows on cars. Police sirens wailed everywhere. Bruce was scared, but his father told the family they would go down the alley to avoid the mob. The moment they did that, however, somebody followed them. A sinister-looking man wearing a heavy coat. His hands were inside his pockets.

"Wayne!" Joe called out to him. The Wayne family turned around and looked at the criminal, who raised a gun and pointed it at the patriarch. "You still think we're fucking clowns?"

Thomas raised his hands and tried to talk some sense into him. "No, please!"

_BANG!_

Martha screamed her husband's name, watching as he fell dead on the ground. Looking at the murderer, she soon met the same fate and was shot, her blood spraying onto her son's frightened face. Joe grabbed at the string of pearls around her neck, breaking it and letting them spill onto the cold ground as she slumped down next to Thomas. Bruce stared up at Joe, thinking he would be next. Joe thought about it, but chose to spare his life. He would never hurt a child. Now that the rich couple who started all this was dead, his job was finished. He turned around and ran away, leaving a traumatized Bruce alone with the corpses of his parents.

* * *

He laid like one dead on the hood of the squad car. There was darkness all around him, but the voices he heard were faint. Suddenly, Arthur coughed up a bit of blood and turned over onto his side for a moment, then laid down on his back again. The voices grew louder. Arthur opened his eyes and lifted his head up. He sat up slowly and found there were people in clown masks and makeup all around him, some encouraging him to get up.

Arthur recovered his strength and stood up slowly, staggering to his feet so the people could get a better look at him. The crowd cheered louder, stunned and amazed that he was still alive.

Arthur looked around at his legion of masked followers, hardly believing what he was seeing. He had brought the city down into chaos. Half of Gotham was burning. The air was thick with smoke. All because he finally stood up for himself against some rich people. The crowd mistook it for standing up against the system. No matter how it looked, Arthur Fleck was still a hero in their eyes, someone who finally stood up against the over-privileged.

Despite the pain he was in, Arthur started to perform a slow, graceful dance for the crowd, spreading his arms and flicking his wrists as he turned and moved his body to the same cello music he heard before that night of the subway murders. The crowd loved it, still cheering for the clown man in the red suit. Suddenly, Arthur stopped dancing and realized it wasn't him they were applauding. It was his new character, Joker, they were in love with.

They were acknowledging Joker, but they still acted as though Arthur Fleck never existed him. They didn't care about him. They only cared about the clown. In that moment, Arthur finally realized who he had become.

He felt a warm, burning liquid escaping from his nostrils and quickly realized it was blood. He tasted the same bitter, ironlike substance in his mouth and touched his bottom lip, seeing a tiny droplet of the red liquid stain his fingertips. And then, for the sake of the crowd, Arthur smeared the blood from his mouth all over his lips, forming it into a bloody smile. The crowd went wild, the cheering and applauding growing louder for the clown man on top of the squad car, his bloodied face an icon to their movement. Arthur spread out his arms and turned toward the crowd again. They couldn't see it, but there were tears in his eyes. Not tears of joy, but tears of sadness. All his life, Arthur wanted to be accepted and loved for who he was, but if nobody could love him for just being himself, then he found no other choice but to accept himself as a joker.

His lifelong goal of bringing joy and laughter and happiness into the world had been demolished for good. If this was the only way for Arthur to receive the full-on recognition he so desperately craved, then so be it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Wendy regained consciousness and opened her eyes, her senses slowly returning to her awakening body. She couldn't see much at first and had to blink a couple of times to get her vision to focus. She closed her eyes shut again and moaned in pain as she tried to remember what happened. She had been in a car accident. The ambulance came out of nowhere and slammed right into the side of the police car. The taxi cab she was riding in had clipped the hood of the police car and flipped over, landing upside down. Her neck hurt, but she didn't think it was broken. She wasn't gravely injured, but she could feel cuts and bruises all over her body.

Turning her head slowly to her right, Wendy opened her eyes again and saw the man in the driver's seat was either unconscious or dead. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. She tried to find her voice again.

"Trav...Travis?..." The taxi driver did not move or speak. Wendy tried raising her voice a bit, hoping he would answer her. "Travis!" He didn't respond.

Wendy heard the sound of cheering and blinked and slowly looked to her left, seeing a swarm of people in clown masks surrounding a damaged police car about ten feet away. To her, that could only mean one thing.

Wendy found her strength again and scooted over toward the busted back window. The edges were lined with broken glass, but she had just enough space to crawl out. Turning over carefully, Wendy groaned in pain and slowly stepped her left leg out. She squeezed her eyes shut, hissing in pain when she moved her other leg out and set her foot on the ground. The street was littered with broken glass and she lost her right high heel, but wasn't going to bother retrieving it inside the cab. Wendy turned and started walking away from the taxi cab, limping on one leg and feeling like her right hip was bruised. She stopped for a minute and leaned over, wrapping an arm around her stomach. She looked down to see if there was any blood running down between her legs, but there wasn't any. She only had small cuts and bruises on her legs, but she didn't think she lost the baby.

Raising her head, Wendy looked up and saw Arthur slowly standing on top of the hood of the car, looking around at the sea of followers around him. His head was bleeding. His makeup was smeared, his hair all messy and disheveled. Part of his shirt was opened, exposing his neck and a small part of his chest. He didn't even know she was there. Part of Wendy wanted to scream and cry out his name, but she knew he wouldn't hear her.

Wendy turned around and looked over at the overturned taxi cab, seeing Travis had regained consciousness and manged to crawl out himself. He was standing near his broken vehicle, holding a hand to the left side of his head trying to stop the bleeding. He suffered a cut on his head, but was otherwise unharmed. He looked over at her, his eyes asking her if she was okay. Wendy looked away from Travis and turned back to look at Arthur, who started to perform a small dance for the crowd. He turned his back and Wendy couldn't see him, but judging from the movement of his arms, she could tell he had done something to his face. He suddenly spread his arms out, causing the crowd to burst into an uproar. He turned around again, and Wendy finally saw what he had done. There was a bloodied smile on his face, ugly and gruesome. Arthur Fleck was gone. The Joker had taken over.

Wendy couldn't believe it. Arthur was relishing in the amount of joy from his followers for causing all this destruction. He might have looked like a savior to the people of Gotham City, but to Wendy, he looked like a monster.

Suddenly, Wendy found herself dropping down on her knees, everything moving in slow motion as she started to lose her senses again. She couldn't feel anything. She couldn't hear or see anything. Everything went black. She fainted. Travis ran over to her at once and dropped down on his knees beside Wendy, cradling her body to his chest and making sure she wasn't dead. He checked her for a pulse, but it was very weak. He heard sirens approaching and looked over at Arthur and his legions of followers, hoping the cops were coming to arrest them. Travis picked up Wendy's body into his strong, muscular arms and turned away from the scene of the crime, taking the unconscious woman away to safety. The screwhead clown had taken over the man she loved. Wendy's love wasn't strong enough to break Arthur free from the spell of evil. Travis understood exactly how she felt.


	31. Chapter 31

When she regained consciousness, Wendy woke up in the hospital and found Travis sitting by her side. When he asked her if she was okay, Wendy ignored the questioned and asked him about the baby. Travis told her the baby was all right, but he was more concerned about her. He didn't care if she was carrying the child of that stupid fucking clown, but he didn't dare say it to her face. He was torn about how he felt about the situation and letting her know how he really felt about her, but decided to hold his tongue and just make sure Wendy and the baby were taken care of. He stayed with her while she was recovering and offered her to stay with him for a couple of days. During that time, they learned that Arthur Fleck had been incarcerated and convicted to Arkham State Hospital. Travis helped her get out of Gotham once things quited down and stayed in touch with Wendy through letters and the telephone. Before she left, Wendy told Travis to make her a promise: that they would meet up back in Gotham City in five months and tell Arthur the truth.

On April 10th, 1982, Wendy Tallman, having changed her surname back to her legal birth name, walked alone into Arkham State Hospital. She asked an orderly where she could talk to somebody about visitation. He told her to go to the top floor. She took the elevator and went up and got off and walked down to the service window surrounded by a metal grate. A black man was standing behind the window. The ID on his shirt said his name was Carl.

"Excuse me", said Wendy. "I'm here to visit a patient."

"What's his name?" Carl asked her.

"Fleck", Wendy told him. "Arthur Fleck."

Carl didn't like the sound of that, but hid his fear and concern from the auburn-haired woman and asked her, "Are you his relative?"

"No", Wendy answered. "I was with him before all the craziness happened. I just need to see him for a few minutes."

"Can I have your name, miss?"

"Tallman. Wendy Tallman."

"Miss Tallman, you realize I can't let you visit him unsupervised. You'll have to have an escort. We have cameras in every room, but this is just for your own protection."

"No, I understand."

Carl nodded and told her, "All right. Just wait here a minute, will you?"

"Okay. Thank you."

The minute Carl left, Wendy turned around and looked over at some of the patients sitting out in the hallway. One of them was a young man with innocent blue eyes and a crop of slightly curly brown hair. He didn't look dangerous and seemed pretty harmless, but then she noticed the healing red markings around both his wrists. The young man made eye contact with her and gave her a friendly smile. Wendy looked away, not wanting to see him. She made sure her heavy coat was zipped up all the way, hiding the five-month-old bump that continued to grow with child. Wendy looked to her left and saw a middle-aged man was being pushed around in a wheelchair by a blonde female orderly. There was a stitch on the side of his head, showing he was a victim of lobotomy. He was pretty much a living vegetable. In some way, his face reminded her of Jack Napier.

"Miss Tallman?"

Wendy looked back and saw Carl had returned with another black man wearing an orderly uniform. He was six foot tall and strong as an ox.

"Miss Tallman, this is Vince. He'll take you to see Arthur. He's in Room 287 in 24 South Wing G."

They took the elevator to another floor and walked down the long hallway. There were several doors on either side, each one with a small plexiglass window. As they came to the end of the long hallway, Wendy heard the familiar sound of somebody cracking up and turned to the room on her left and looked through the small window, looking in on a man standing in the middle of a clean, white room. There wasn't much in there, save for a bed, a small dresser, and a chair. On the dresser, there was a piece of paper, a pen, a half packet of cigarettes, and an ashtray. He didn't even know she was watching him, for his back was facing her.

Vince took out a ring of keys and unlocked the door, opening it. He walked in first and said, "Hey, asshole. You got a visitor."

The man didn't bother to turn around and just kept on going with his laughing fit like it was nothing. He snorted and chuckled softly, taking a deep breath, then taking a long drag from his cigarette and breathing smoke out through his nostrils. He smiled and started laughing again. The smoke from his cigarette floated around his head in a cloud of foul-smelling mist, like a small gray balloon.

Wendy walked in slowly and said in a gentle voice, "Hello, Arthur."

Arthur laughed again and turned around and looked over at the auburn-haired woman. He ceased his laughing and stared at her, observing her like she was some mystic painting of angelic art. She looked more beautiful than last time they met. There was a radiant blush to her cheeks, giving her face a heavenly glow. Wendy noticed that he, too, was different. His face was pale and stubbled. His eyes were a darker shade of green. The emerald color of his dark hair was washed out long ago. His clown outfit had been striped away, forcing him to reduce his wardrobe down to a simple white hospital T-shirt, pants and shoes. There was also a smile on his face. He showed no trace of pain or suffering from his laughing fit. There were no tears in his eyes. If anything, he seemed like he enjoyed it. A rare occasion. He was holding a cigarette between his index and middle finger.

"Hello, Wendy", said Arthur. His voice was soft and scratchy, like he hadn't used it much.

Vince placed a hand on Wendy's shoulder and said, "I'll be standing over here in case he tries to do anything stupid."

"Thank you", said Wendy.

Vince closed the door and walked over and stood in the corner of the room with his arms crossed. Wendy kept her eyes on Arthur, who blinked and lowered his gaze and inhaled another drag, blowing smoke out of the corner of his mouth. Wendy went over and sat down on the bed, wrapping her arms protectively around her stomach and hoping Arthur wouldn't notice her bump.

Arthur turned and walked over to light another cigarette with the burning end of his previous one and doused the used-up one into the ashtray. He held the other cigarette between his lips and grabbed the chair and dragged it over so he could sit down on it. There was more than enough room for them to sit down on the bed together, but he didn't want to. Although he tried to keep her away after giving himself over to Joker, Arthur still felt angry at Wendy for deserting him. He didn't blame her for hating him after the trouble he had caused, but it would have been nice if she let him know she was still alive. He continued to smoke his cigarette while he talked to her.

"How did you know I was here?" Arthur asked her.

"Everybody saw you kill Murray Franklin on TV that night, Arthur", Wendy reminded him. "Where do you think people like you end up? You're lucky you're not in jail. How have you been?"

"I've had better days", said Arthur.

Wendy leaned forward and asked him, "Are you back on your medication again?"

"Some of them", Arthur answered. "Actually, they put me on some new drug last week. Thorazine, I think they call it."

"Have you been sleeping well?"

"Yes, Wendy. Everything's better now. How have you been sleeping? Alone, I hope."

Wendy sighed and leaned back a bit. "I haven't been sleeping too well these last few nights. I've been having nightmares and suffering from back pain."

Arthur didn't say anything, but nodded his head and took another drag, breathing out smoke. He laughed quietly and told her, "They put me in electroshock treatment yesterday."

Wendy shrugged, asking him, "And? What do you want me to do about it? Take off my clothes and spread my legs so you can light me up like a Christmas tree?"

Arthur let a high-pitched laugh, thinking it was legitimately funny, but still mocking her dry sense of humor.

"Maybe you should write that one down in your journal", Wendy told him, sarcastically. "I'm sure your fans would just _love_ to hear that one."

"Unfortunately, I lost my journal that day I went on Murray Franklin's show", Arthur admitted. "You haven't seen it, have you?" He chuckled at his own statement, imagining her reaction upon seeing the dirty pictures.

Wendy said nothing and looked at him, sadly. Deep down inside, Arthur was still the same old person, but she didn't think there was any going back for him. Not for a long time, at least.

"Don't give me that look, Wendy", said Arthur, taking a drag and breathing out smoke. "You know what you were getting involved with when you met me."

"You're a murderer, Arthur", said Wendy. "I don't care if you killed Penny or Murray, but those three young men didn't deserve to die. They had families, for Christ's sake."

"How can you even say that? You weren't there, Wendy. You didn't see what happened. You didn't even know them."

"Neither did you. I'm sorry for what they did to you, but you could have handle this another way without pulling a gun out on them."

Arthur looked away from her, shaking his head while he took another drag. He breathed smoke out through his nostrils. "I had to defend myself, Wendy", he said. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be sitting here right now, would I?"

"You wouldn't be locked away, that's for sure", said Wendy. "You got yourself into this mess, Arthur, and only you can get yourself out of it. Maybe if you cooperate, the system will let you back out in a few years."

Arthur closed his eyes and shook his head again. He took another drag from his cigarette and breathed out more smoke. "The system? Fuck them. The system doesn't give a shit about me, Wendy. They never did."

Wendy sighed heavily and added, "Can I ask you a question?"

Arthur blinked and looked at her again. "I think you just did."

"Whatever happened to Gary?" Wendy questioned. "Did you kill him?"

"No, of course not", Arthur answered, truthfully.

"You're not lying to me, are you?" Wendy asked him, sounding suspicious.

"Gary was a good person. He never did anything to hurt me. I don't know what happened to him after that night. For all I know, he might have left Gotham and joined a circus. Maybe he fell in love with a tightrope walker."

"Stop it, Arthur!" Wendy ordered him. "You're not listening to me. I'm very worried about you. You're acting like _I'm_ the bad guy here, and yet you're the one who committed murder and swallowed the key to your cell."

Arthur smiled again and laughed incredulously, asking her, "What is it about me you hate so much?"

"You killed Sophie, didn't you?" Wendy asked him, feeling a tear coming on.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't", said Arthur. "Why do you care? You never liked her anyway."

"But you killed an innocent woman", Wendy informed him. "You killed Sophie the night before you went and killed your own mother!"

Arthur's smile faded. His glistening green eyes darkened. "Penny Fleck was not my mother", he said. "She was a whore, and she had several men fuck me at once. She was a bad person. She broke my fucking heart."

Wendy stayed silent, her lower lip trembling. She never realized how much hatred could take such a sweet man like Arthur and turn him into a harsh, cold, and distant monster.

Arthur flashed her a devilish smile and asked her, "You're scared of me, aren't you?"

"I'm not scared of you, Arthur", Wendy lied to him.

"Then why don't you admit the truth, Wendy? You're obsessed with me. You still love me, but you won't say it, will you?"

"I want to, but I don't know if I should. I thought I could trust you. You said you'd never hurt me."

"I never did, Wendy. I scared you, but I never so much as scratched you or laid a finger on you. Besides, you came onto me first. I thought you loved me."

"I don't know what that means anymore", said Wendy, feeling a tear escape from her eye and roll down her cheek. "It was Arthur Fleck I fell in love with, not the Joker. I loved you, faults and everything. But not like this."

Arthur lowered his gaze again and took another drag of his cigarette, blowing out smoke and thinking what else to say. He blinked and looked at Wendy and asked her, "Did I tell you I was committed here once before?"

"I think you mentioned it at one point", Wendy answered. "What happened?"

"I swallowed a whole bunch of pills trying to kill myself", Arthur explained. "One day, I just couldn't find the strength to go on with my life anymore. Penny found me unconscious on the floor and called the hospital. I almost died, but somehow, I survived. I was locked up here for six months. Six months, but eventually, they let me go. I acted as if it never happened. I still struggled to find a meaning in my life, but then a couple of weeks later, I met you."

"And look what it led to, Arthur", said Wendy.

Arthur lowered his gaze for a moment and took another drag from his cigarette, blowing out smoke and saying to her, "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm gonna die in here anyway. So what's the point?"

"What do you mean you're gonna die in here?" Wendy questioned him. "You're not going to do anything stupid again, are you? Because if that's how you feel, Arthur, I might as well walk out of here right now."

Arthur blinked and looked at her with disapproval. "You're not really listening to what I'm saying to you, are you? I'm not suicidal, Wendy. I told you I tried killing myself once before, but it didn't work. What I'm telling you is they won't let me out of here anytime soon. Let me put it this way: by the time I get out of here, I'll be seventy-five fucking years old. I'm not a young thing anymore, and I know you won't stay beautiful forever either. I know I fucked up, but I needed to do what I had to to protect myself. You don't know what I went through in life, Wendy."

For the first time since she got there, Wendy finally had to look away from Arthur. She understood everything he did and why he had done it, but it was too much for her heart to bare. More tears filled her sad brown eyes.

Arthur chuckled and said, "Speaking of old men, how's dear old Uncle Jack? Are you still living with him?"

Wendy looked at him again and slapped Arthur hard across his face. Vince stifled back a laugh.

"Don't say that!" Wendy screamed. "You don't know what he's done to me, Arthur. What he tried to make me do! Jack Napier may be my uncle by blood, but he means nothing to me anymore. I left him a long time ago."

For a moment, Arthur seemed to snap out of his lunatic, homicidal illusions. He looked at Wendy with confusion, like he had just woken out of a trance. He noticed the tears in her eyes, but chose to ignore them. He blinked and lowered his eyes again, bringing the cigarette to his lips. He took a drag and breathed out a puff of smoke. "Is that the same way you feel about me?" He asked her, solemnly.

"I wish I could say the same thing about you, but I can't", Wendy admitted. "I still love you too much to hate you, Arthur. I understand the world has done wrong to you, but this? I never wanted you to end up like this. Whoever you were that night, I wish you never found him. I saw that look in your eyes that night. I don't ever want to see that look again."

Arthur brought the cigarette to his lips again, taking a short inhale and breathing out smoke. He stayed silent for a moment, then he blinked again and looked at her.

"Did you ever think it would end up like this, Wendy?" Arthur asked her. "Me here in this cage and you out there trying to fend for yourself with all the werewolves running loose every night?"

Wendy shook her head and answered, "No."

Arthur flashed her a creepy smile, then took one last drag and purposely blew cigarette smoke into her face. Wendy coughed instantly and tried to wave the smoke away. Arthur tilted his head back and pretended to howl at the moon. It was fucking weird. He then went into a laughing fit about it.

"All right, that does it!" Vince came forward and tried to threaten Arthur, but Wendy stood up at once and told him, "Sir, please. That's not necessary."

"Why the fuck you want to waste your time with this punk anyway?" Said Vince. "The justice system should have given him the injection and be done with it."

Wendy sat back down and looked at Arthur, who continued to laugh for a moment and told her, "I think it's time for you to go now, Wendy. Things are about to get pretty ugly in here."

Wendy sniffled and wiped away the tears from her burning eyes. "Before I go, I want to give you this", she said, reaching a hand into her coat pocket and pulling out an envelope, setting it down on the bed. "Don't open it until after I'm gone. Okay?" Wendy then stood up and kissed the top of his head. "Goodbye."

Wendy walked over and opened the door, walking out. Vince glared over at Arthur before existing the room and shut the door behind him, locking it.

Once they were gone, Arthur dropped his cigarette on the floor and crushed it with his foot. He pushed his chair back and stood up and picked up the envelope. It had his name written in fancy lettering with a little heart next to it. He looked over at the door to make sure nobody was looking, then opened the envelope and took out what he thought was a letter, but it only turned out to be a grainy image of something he couldn't quite make out at first. It was almost completely black, save for a strange-looking figure outlined in gray. It looked humanoid. It had a bulbous head, plus tiny arms and small legs. Arthur didn't understand. He knew what he was looking at, but didn't know what to make if it. Turning the photograph over, there was a hand-written message on the back: _Congratulations, it's a boy! Love, Wendy_.

Arthur suddenly felt his heart shatter into a thousand pieces, his body shaking with grief. A small smile formed on his face, which turned bright red as he started to chuckle a bit. His eyes burned with tears, blinding his vision as he lost his smile and went into a heartbreaking laughing fit. He clutched a hand at his throat, dropping down on the bed as he held the ultrasound picture to his chest. Wendy was carrying his child and he wouldn't even be allowed to see him be born. This is what she tried to tell him five months ago. If he had known sooner, Arthur never would have given himself over to the monster clown he became that night. There were tears spilling out from his eyes, but the laughing fit he was having would not allow him to display his real emotion outside from the obvious discomfort of his condition. His body locked up, and for a while, he struggled to breath.

Wendy could hear Arthur laughing down the hall as she waited for the elevator, his voice echoing throughout the entire ward. She stepped in at once and the doors closed. She went down with Vince, who looked at her with sympathy and tried to offer her some comforting words. Wendy ignored him and pushed a button, getting off on another floor and running away down the hallway. She heard him call out to her, but turned a corner and found a door that led down a stairwell. She ran down about halfway and stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She lowered her face and placed a hand over her pregnant stomach. She thought back to the morning she woke up in Arthur's apartment, remembering the song he sang to her. She then started to sing softly to their unborn offspring.

"_Smile...though your...h-heart is aching...Smile...even though it's...breaking...When there are clouds...in the sky...you'll get by-_"

Wendy couldn't finish the song. She lowered her face and placed a hand over her mouth and started sobbing quietly. She was letting her emotions get the better of her. She needed to be strong and stay calm for the sake of the baby. It wasn't healthy for either one of them. She sniffled and placed her hand over her heart and took a deep breath. She felt movement inside her stomach and ran her free hand over her bump, rubbing it gently.

"It's okay", Wendy whispered to the baby. "It's okay. Your Daddy's gonna be okay. It's all right." She nodded her head and vowed, "We'll wait for him. One day I'll come back and I'll bring him home. I promise."

When she finally came out of Arkham Sate Hospital, Wendy looked over at the parking lot and saw Travis leaning up against the taxi cab with his arms crossed. He was right in the exact same place where she'd left him.

Wendy sighed deeply through her nose and walked over to Travis, who noticed she had been crying and pulled her into his arms for a warm, comforting hug. They stayed that way for a long time.

"How did it go?" Travis asked her.

"I got what I expected to hear", Wendy answered.

Travis released Wendy and wiped away her tears before turning to open the back door for her. "Did you tell him about the kid?"

Wendy looked at Travis and answered, "I think he got the picture." She stepped into the back of the cab and Travis closed the door and walked around and got into the driver's seat. He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot and drove off. They drove carefully through the crowded streets while Travis took Wendy down to the bus station so she could go back to her hometown, which was only about two days away from Gotham City.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Travis asked her.

Wendy shook her head and answered, "No. Mostly, he was just talking nonsensical."

Travis blinked and glanced at her in the rearview mirror, then returned his gaze forward.

"You all packed up?" Wendy asked him.

"Almost", Travis answered. "I should be out of this city by the end of the week. I've been meaning to get out of here for a long time."

"I look forward to seeing you there", said Wendy.

Travis formed the faintest smile on his face and said, "I've never been to Metropolis before. What's it like?"

"It's kind of like New York, and it's sort of like Gotham City, but it's cleaner and there's not as much crime. I think you'll fit right in."

"You really think they'll release him one day?"

Wendy knew he was talking about Artur and answered, "I hope so."

"How long will you wait for him?" Travis dared to ask her.

"I can wait forever", Wendy answered. "No matter how long it takes for him to get out, I'll wait for him."

Travis looked over his shoulder at Wendy, then looked forward again and continued driving slowly through the traffic.

Wendy turned her head to the left and looked out the window for a moment, seeing a homeless man lying on the sidewalk, either asleep or dead. There was a clown mask right by his feet. She looked away, thinking about Arthur and all the trouble he caused. She knew why he did what he did, but she did not want to become part of it. His legacy would leave an impact on the city for a long time, but they would never get over it. Worst of all, Bruce Wayne was made on orphan because of Joker. Wendy could still see Arthur in his Joker ensemble, laughing like there was nothing in the world that could hurt him. That was his life. Nothing more than a joke.

Arthur was not getting out any time soon, that much she knew. Joker might have died for now, but he was still very much alive. Somehow, in someway, some tiny measure of dread told Wendy that the Crown Prince of Crime would most certainly never die. He would return to Gotham City one day, but it would not be in the form of the man she loved. The Joker would live again. Another man would follow Arthur's example. Several would. It would only be known in the unforeseeable future who the next Joker would be, something Wendy feared to know. Nevertheless, she wondered if there was still a chance she and Arthur could be together. One day, if he was ever released from Arkham, Wendy would be there for him. She would come back for Arthur Fleck.


End file.
